April 18, 2018

With Zhao Lingbo’s gentle and friendly explanation, the audience felt the temperature inside the Golden Jade Immortal Platform gradually dropping.

"Many people say that half of a person’s appearance comes from his hair. Although this saying seems to originate from an advertisement by a beauty and hair salon, we have to admit there’s some truth in it. After Hongwu True Master’s full head of black hair turned grey, several of his close female friends mysteriously left him, even his daughter cut off all contact. His late years were truly bleak."

Zhao Lingbo is an incredibly focused speaker, each expression and movement perfectly complementing his words, vividly depicting an oppressed old man resisting tyranny.

After hearing this story, Li Chaolu couldn’t help but say, "Isn’t this just a case of being oppressed by a superior and implicating those around him?"

Zhao Lingbo, surprised, widened his eyes as if hearing the most unimaginable thing: "Oppressed by a superior? Are you talking about Lord City Lord? Haha, how could that be? Lord City Lord is incredibly broad-minded and never fusses over such minor offenses with his subordinates."

"But wasn’t Hongwu True Master dismissed for contradicting Zhao Chenlu?"

Zhao Lingbo waved his hands repeatedly, explaining, "No, no, that’s a completely different matter. How could Lord City Lord do such a thing? His dismissal had nothing to do with him contradicting the City Lord."

Li Chaolu became instantly angry, feeling as if he was being taken for Shen Qingming, and angrily asked, "Then why was he dismissed?"

Zhao Lingbo shrugged and said, "I don’t know, that’s why I said it’s a baffling misfortune."

Li Chaolu was silent for a while before concluding, "...This kind of blatantly shameless behavior leaves me speechless."

Zhao Lingbo laughed, "Looking at the unparalleled beauty of Lord City Lord, no one could utter the words ’shameless.’ " He paused and added, "Looking at me, don’t you think I’m breathtaking, like a celestial being descended to earth? But compared to Lord City Lord, I’m just a complete passer-by girl."

"You Golden Jade people are truly..." Li Chaolu questioned, "Does being good-looking mean you can do as you please?"

Zhao Lingbo’s smile carried a trace of apology: "Generally speaking, those who ask this question have never experienced the feeling of doing as they please because of their appearance."

Li Chaolu suddenly felt the blood vessels in his temple expand like popcorn: "What did you say!?"

Zhao Lingbo said, "Actually, I haven’t experienced it either. In today’s world, only Lord City Lord can do as he pleases because of his good looks, so we’re all fellow failures, no need to be hostile to each other."

"You’re the failure!"

At this point, even Li Wanqing felt the atmosphere was a bit off: "Are you here to serve us or to add to our distress?"

Zhao Lingbo smiled, bowed, and said, "Sorry for making you uncomfortable, but before the Immortal Platform reaches Golden Jade City, I think it’s necessary to let you adjust to Golden Jade City’s pace in advance, especially to adapt to the way of interacting with Lord City Lord."

Li Wanqing said, "Just teach Wang Jiu, there’s no need for us to meet City Lord Zhao."

Zhao Lingbo said, "But Lord City Lord really wants to meet the friends Mr. Wang Jiu made in Cyan Cloud City."

"...So, if we don’t comply, we might encounter inexplicable natural disasters, right?"

Zhao Lingbo laughed, "Perhaps you all might be lucky enough to avoid the disaster, who knows." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The atmosphere inside the Immortal Platform suddenly turned even colder.

Although many had anticipated that this journey to Golden Jade City might not go smoothly, just like their trip to Shen City, they truly did not expect setbacks to come so quickly.

Li Wanqing snorted coldly and said, "Is this supposed to be City Lord Golden Jade giving us a warning?"

Zhao Lingbo said, "Believe me, if it were to be a warning, Golden Jade City’s methods wouldn’t be this gentle. Moreover, without my preliminary session, you’d deeply understand the essence of a warning the moment you meet Lord City Lord."

Li Chaolu said, "I want to jump down, is it still possible?"

Zhao Lingbo very considerately said, "Currently, the Golden Jade Immortal Platform is located in the Nine Heavens Gang Wind Layer 13,000 zhang above the ground, with a flying speed of 10,000 li per hour. The Gang Wind pressure is at level 13. Based on your Immortal Dao cultivation, except for Mr. Wang Jiu, everyone else would be shredded into microscopic pieces of meat within one second of jumping off the Immortal Platform. So, anyone want to try?"

Li Chaolu said angrily: "I demand an immediate turnaround back to Shen City, we’re not going to Golden Jade!"

Zhao Lingbo continued to maintain his considerate demeanor: "With the current Ascension Platform technology, once the flight trajectory is set, opening a passage within the Gang Wind Layer cannot allow for arbitrary turns. Otherwise, such a massive flying object suddenly changing its trajectory would disturb the smooth passage in the Gang Wind Layer, triggering a Gang Wind storm. In that case, everyone present except Mr. Wang Jiu would be minced to micron-sized meat within one second. So, should I change course now?"

Li Chaolu was left speechless and glanced at Wang Jiu.

Wang Jiu nodded: "Technically, flying within the Gang Wind Layer does indeed have such risks. However, with Xiangzhou’s current technology level, more advanced Ascension Platforms are equipped with directional armor for emergency situations."

Li Chaolu immediately turned around: "Ha! Turn around, turn around immediately!"

Zhao Lingbo smiled apologetically: "The Golden Jade Immortal Platform does not have directional armor installed, you can verify this in the formation yourselves."

"They don’t even have directional armor, yet Golden Jade City has the nerve to showcase it!"

Zhao Lingbo chuckled and said: "In fact, this is precisely the hallmark of a top-tier Ascension Platform, focusing on exquisite service rather than boring technical details. For example, every dish on the dining table in this palace is prepared by the finest chefs of Golden Jade City. Every gold brick on the wall is hand-cast by skilled artisans—actually, the main reason Golden Jade Immortal Platform doesn’t have armor installed is because gold bricks and jade stones take up too much of the payload, so...

"So you would rather sacrifice important maneuverability features to install these useless gold bricks!?"

Zhao Lingbo asserted confidently: "Thus, you’ll never witness such luxurious and noble sights or taste dishes cooked by celebrated Golden Jade chefs on any Ascension Platform capable of directional changes within the Gang Wind Layer."

"..."

Zhao Lingbo added: "Moreover, the decoration cost of Golden Jade Immortal Platform is thirty-five thousand Spirit Stones, while directional armor costs only seven hundred Spirit Stones. Considering this platform was already presented to you as a gift from Lord City Lord, would you prefer it to be more expensive or cheaper?"

"..." Although no one in the audience replied, someone’s eyes were clearly glimmering.

Zhao Lingbo laughed: "So to continue with the previous topic, there are a few procedures you need to familiarize yourselves with before you personally meet Lord City Lord. First is, these."

As he spoke, Zhao Lingbo took out a white porcelain bottle from the Storage Bag.

"Golden Jade’s Rapid-acting Life-saving Pill, everyone take one and hold it in your mouth ahead of time. Then, swallow it when Lord City Lord unveils her immortal appearance, to avoid being intimidated by her transcendental beauty and having your soul fly away and scatter."

"Are you serious?" Li Chaolu asked incredulously.

"Of course, the reason you haven’t felt this before is that most of the time, Lord City Lord wears a mask to conceal her visage. But for distinguished guests like Mr. Wang Jiu, she will meet them with her true face." Zhao Lingbo nodded, then pulled out a booklet from the Storage Bag and read it: "In 2001, 5 people; in 2002, 7 people; 2003 was the most severe, 38 people. At that time, Lord City Lord met a delegation from the city-states in the Nether Sea area, causing a gap in their diplomatic team. In 2004..."

"Enough, no need to go on, hand over the pill." Li Chaolu shook his head and directly went to take the pill.

After distributing the pills, Zhao Lingbo continued: "Alright, assuming everyone has now adapted to Lord City Lord’s unmatched beauty, the next issue we need to address is the ensuing loss of self-esteem. Many women lose the confidence to continue living after witnessing Lord City Lord’s countenance. I hope everyone can stay strong and at least not become incontinent due to despair. Lord City Lord is quite strict about personal hygiene and cannot tolerate filth..."

"Who would become incontinent just because they saw someone attractive?!" Li Chaolu again felt his intelligence was being challenged.

Zhao Lingbo took out a small booklet from the Storage Bag: "In 2001..."

"Alright, we got it, you don’t need to say more, we profoundly understand your city’s master is unrivaled in beauty, let’s proceed to the next topic!"

"Alright, the next topic is about how to engage in effective communication with Lord City Lord. I believe many know, the Golden Jade’s Lord City Lord is approachable and without unnecessary formalities, so conversing with her is very straightforward. You just need to memorize the following sentence forms to smoothly communicate with Lord City Lord. First, ’Yes, My Lord’, second, ’At once, My Lord’, third, ’Your will, my mission’..."

After stating these classic phrases, Zhao Lingbo chuckled: "Indeed, I know everyone must have many doubts, but, I, with the supreme honor as the personal maid of Lord City Lord, swear this is all true, our Lord City Lord is so easy to communicate with. However, there’s a minor issue, if you insist on bypassing protocols and improvising, although Lord City Lord won’t fuss over things, some inexplicable disasters may befall someone, like in 2001..."

"Alright, we all know!" Shen Qingming angrily pounded on the table and growled, "I must have water on the brain to have come to Golden Jade City with Wang Jiu!"

Zhao Lingbo glanced at Shen Qingming: "Oh right, there’s a small detail I think is necessary to remind you of. As Golden Jade City’s top-tier Ascension Platform, there are 4 single-person escape pods in the rear palace warehouse. If you set the target correctly, you can return to Shen City within two days."

"You did it on purpose, didn’t you!?"