As the clouds sped past them, Liu Wanwan soon saw the Mystgod Pavilion.

"Wanwan, do you know why you were spared?" the pavilion lord asked.

"Because I praised that person's looks?" she asked timidly.

The old man suppressed the urge to give her a slap on the face. "How could a fine girl like you be so brainless...."

"Then what's the reason?"

"Lin Feng defeated Princess Shen Yu and revealed that he’s a nonabane."

Liu Wanwan froze. "Nine? Pavilion Lord, have you gone mad?"

"I have not. You were lucky you befriended him. From now on, you’ll be a VIP of our sect and under heavy protection. To reward you for establishing good relations with him, the sect has decided to grant you a few grade-five universal manna."

Liu Wanwan almost did a double take.

"Go to the wondersky realm and tell him you're safe, quick," the pavilion lord said.

"Oh, okay!" Just because she had come to know a nonabane for no good reason whatsoever, she’d been given multiple universal manna and afforded the full protection of her sect. It almost felt like a dream to her. She didn't even dare to bring up how she had defeated 'Lin Feng' a year ago at the Violetglory Pagoda.

......

A clear body of shallow water appeared in front of Tianming, surrounding the small sandy island he was on. There were some palm trees on the island that gave shade to a small white building. Tianming walked across the fine white sand on the beach to the wooden house and entered it. It was rather plain inside, and he smelled fresh tea. The atmosphere was tranquil and relaxing. But when he looked ahead, he saw countless paintings of beauties on the walls, all of whom sported seductive and curvy bodies in all sorts of elegant and tantalizing poses. One look was enough to inspire a reaction from anyone.

This building was the room of choice one of the top figures of the Violetcloud Imperium chose to receive guests in. Han Xingluan had called this old man 'Old Master Shengui'. It was said that he had lived for a long time, but based on the paintings on the walls, one wouldn’t be mistaken for thinking he was a man in his prime.

All of a sudden, someone tapped on Tianming's shoulder from behind. He turned around and saw a one-eyed old man smile at him. "All of these beauties here used to be my partners at one point in time. I poured my soul into completing the paintings myself, inscribing the essence of every moment I spent with them. Did my art move your soul to tears?"

"It sure did... shall we talk outside instead?" Tianming said awkwardly.

"No need. Let's bare our big hearts. Here. Proudly." The old man chuckled at his intentionally vulgar and easily misconstrued choice of words. 'Bare' obviously referred to the paintings of the unclothed women, and 'big' required no explanation whatsoever.

Tianming couldn't quite look away, but he agreed nevertheless. "Alright!" He looked straight at the old man without averting his gaze and calmed his heartbeat down.

"I'm sure the young ones told you how sincere I am, right? I've already arranged for all of our informants to keep an eye out for that beauty of yours. I promise we'll return her to you safe and sound," the old man said, slapping his chest.

"Your sincerity is much appreciated," Tianming said. He was too lazy to explain his relationship with Liu Wanwan to him. He had only been forced to reveal his totems because he didn't want someone so far away that he couldn't help to get into trouble on account of him.

"Then join the Violetcloud Imperium. This old man here will pave a path to a bright future for you! How about it? I’m sincere and direct. If we mistreat you in any way, I’ll personally apologize to you."

"But you're going to be in the ground soon enough. Would that make a difference?" Tianming joked.

"Oh? Looking down on me, are you? If you don't believe me, I'll show you my trusty squirt stick. Witness how far it can squirt!" He was vulgar beyond belief, but people like him were most often direct and honest.

"Old Master, I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been trapped somewhere and I can't leave. I might need years or decades before I can free myself. Since you helped me out today, I’ll go to Violetcloud Imperium when I leave."

"Are you somewhere in uncharted aether?"

"More or less."

"That is a little troublesome. However, even I can tell that your words hold weight and I know you're not just bluffing. Since that's the case, we’ll await you with great sincerity. On the day you leave, I’ll bring our leader himself to come fetch you!"

"Deal."

"Not bad, you’re a good kid indeed. On the first look, I knew you would be a genius among geniuses that’s many times stronger than even the Divineglory Dynasty's Ye Chen!"

"That can't be right. You said that I was a pill maniac. You also said you'd cut your head off for me to use as a potty if I wasn't."

The old man immediately froze. "Damn those backstabbing brats.... I'll seduce their grandmothers and show them!"

......

After leaving the beach house, Tianming was about to head to the eighth level of the Violetglory Pagoda. It appeared that Liu Wanwan's peril was but a mere setback. The main reason he had challenged Princess Shen Yu in the first place was because he wanted to head to the next level of the pagoda.

"Nothing on the Violetglory Star really matters to me for now. I still have the Azurecloud Continent to worry about, so let's focus on training."

Little did he know that everyone on the distant star had been mobilized to look for Liu Wanwan. Anybody that kept up with the news would be aware of her name. Not to mention, he himself was the constant center of attention in the wondersky realm. There were fanboys and fangirls all over the place.

Before he left, the wondersky fairy notified him that Liu Wanwan had asked to meet at Perplexity Island. "Wanwan?" Tianming snapped out of it and immediately headed over. The girl was indeed waiting for him there. "Are you safe now?"

"Yeah. Once you showed off your nine totems, you scared off my kidnappers." Liu Wanwan blankly stared at him.

"Were you hurt?"

"I'm fine. I'm back at the Mystgod Pavilion now. The pavilion lord now has everyone in the sect protecting me and even gave me a huge gift. I think he's nurturing me like his own granddaughter...." She still felt like she was dreaming. How else would she have survived being caught up in the controversy, and even gained so much from it?

"That's good to hear. I'm sorry for getting you involved in trouble."

"It's fine. If this happens a few more times, I think I'll end up filthy rich!" she said, smiling.

Tianming chuckled. Seeing her still so optimistic, he was relieved that this incident was behind him in the best way possible. If she had died because of him, it would definitely haunt him for the rest of his life.