Although he decided to fleece the fellow thoroughly, exactly how and when to fleece Ye Wen still required careful consideration. Still, to keep the man hooked, Ye Wen exchanged contact information with him.

“Nigel Bradley?”

The business card listed only a name and a number, nothing else. Bradley explained that this was a very personal number, not given to just anyone. If Ye Wen decided he was willing to sell his compositions, he could use this number to contact him.

“I guarantee I will find the perfect lyrics and the perfect vocalist for your music…”

“I care more about the right price!” Ye Wen muttered inwardly, tucking the card away before heading straight back to the apartment complex.

This building had two units per floor, each unit comprising two bedrooms, a living room, and the necessary supporting facilities like a kitchen and bathroom. Ye Wen was on the seventh floor. As for his neighbors? Since he rarely went out, he hadn't yet had a chance to meet them.

Arriving at his door, he pulled out his key and unlocked it. The moment he stepped inside, Ye Wen heard a familiar voice: “Are you, by chance, the famous Changchunzi, Qiu Chuji…”

Looking up in surprise, he saw that the television was playing the 1980s version of The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Hua Yi and Ning Ruxue were sitting on the sofa watching it. Hearing the door open, they both turned to look. Standing nearby was Tommy, who must have arrived at some point, still trying to ingratiate himself with the two women, perhaps hoping to learn those magical moves like "Fou-tsee-kong-foo.”

Seeing Ye Wen return, Hua Yi and Ning Ruxue narrowed their eyes. Then Ning Ruxue pointed at the screen: “Senior Brother… there’s a Quanzhen Sect here!”

“Hahaha!” Ye Wen managed an awkward laugh before pulling Tommy aside. “You rascal, what channel did you put on?”

“Mr. Ye!” Tommy grinned smugly. “I specially brought over my prized collection of videotapes… just to keep you all entertained…”

Tommy’s thinking was simple. He had heard that Chinese people generally didn't care for American TV shows, so he figured he’d find some Chinese programs for them instead. Furthermore, his deepest impression of China was martial arts, and remembering that these people were rumored to be legendary "masters," he brought his treasured Wuxia drama tapes specifically to please them.

What he didn't realize was that his effort had deeply frustrated Ye Wen. He had hoped that being in America would allow him to temporarily avoid explaining matters of kung fu, but now this situation had arisen.

Walking to the sofa, he noticed the two women had wrapped themselves tightly in bedsheets. Not only were their long legs completely hidden, but their upper bodies were too. The clothes Ye Wen had selected for them were certainly not revealing—at least, not by his standards.

“Senior Brother~”

“Well… actually, many of the names of the martial arts techniques I taught you were taken from these television shows!”

Since he couldn't hide it, and there was nothing truly shameful about it, Ye Wen offered a brief explanation. He rationalized that creating the techniques was already taxing enough, and inventing names on top of that was too troublesome, so he had simply selected names from his past memories that seemed fitting.

At the same time, he confessed a slew of related matters: that names like Zhou Zhiruo and Guo Jing were also borrowed from these film and television works, and that his creation of techniques had been influenced by these dramas. Therefore, they might notice in the future that many of the Shu Mountain Sect's skills closely resembled what was depicted in these shows.

The two women chose to accept Ye Wen’s explanation. After all, his reasoning sounded plausible and entirely reasonable. More to the point, back in the Jianghu of his previous life, countless people had been influenced by storytellers in tea houses, picking favorite names from those tales to attach to their own techniques. Many others had even chosen their martial paths based on certain stories; this was not unusual.

Ye Wen doing such a thing actually made them feel that he was a normal person living beside them, rather than a "monster" who had lived two lives.

While explaining, Ye Wen squeezed himself between the two women and slowly pulled them into an embrace. When they eventually leaned against his chest of their own accord, he let out a sigh of relief. “Another close call avoided!”

Only then did he have time to deal with the well-intentioned but troublesome Tommy Johnson.

“Tommy!”

“Yes, Shifu!”

“…” Ye Wen was momentarily speechless. “Don’t just call me that! That title isn’t something you can throw around casually, understand?”

Tommy blinked, then shook his head with an expression of absolute innocence. “I don’t understand!”

Ye Wen pinched the bridge of his nose, pondered for a long moment, and finally decided to address the main concern first. “What about the driver’s license issue?”

Tommy smiled. “All the necessary documents are prepared. However, to get the actual licenses, we’ll need a little…” With a chuckle, Tommy rubbed his fingers together—a gesture whose meaning was clear to anyone on Earth.

Ye Wen knew that getting identification papers for them wasn't possible without money, but the big payment hadn't arrived yet, and it might take a while. “We’ll have money soon. You smooth things over on your end, and as soon as the funds clear, I expect to see three legal driver’s licenses!”

“No problem at all!” Tommy patted his chest, assuring him. Then, he asked with a hint of subservience, “Can I really not learn ‘empty stomach’ [a specific technique he likely misheard/misunderstood]?”

Seeing the man was relentless, Ye Wen sighed. “Taking on a disciple is a very serious matter. I just met you not long ago; I don't know your character or potential yet. We’ll discuss it after I get to know you a bit better in a few days!”

“Understood!” Tommy nodded. Having watched some Hong Kong and Taiwanese dramas and films, he recognized this scenario—he figured Ye Wen needed time for closer observation before deciding whether to accept him as a student. He felt immense understanding and approval for this, even volunteering to take the initiative: “Why don't I pay for the licenses for you all myself? Maybe Mr. Ye will be so pleased that he’ll take me as a disciple?”

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Tommy scampered away happily, leaving behind a pile of videotapes, all of them Wuxia dramas from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

After seeing Tommy off, Ye Wen once again buried himself in the tender embrace. Ignoring Ning Ruxue’s glare, he reached out toward a patch of smooth skin.

“Senior Brother, it’s daytime!”

“We’re at home, and no one else is here. What’s there to be afraid of?” Ye Wen chuckled softly as he moved his hand gently. Ning Ruxue could only compromise after shooting him a flushed, angry look, especially since the gown she wore covered her lower half but left her upper half vulnerable to Ye Wen’s advances.

The three of them huddled together watching TV, occasionally erupting in commentary: “Haha! No wonder Senior Brother named A Niu ‘Guo Jing’!” “The martial arts in this are so poor; that beggar can’t even shatter a tree trunk. If it were Senior Brother, that tree would have turned to dust long ago…” “This is the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms? Doesn't look very powerful!” “Master, are the techniques you taught this servant also from these things called ‘television dramas’?”…

They were all top-tier masters with formidable internal energy; even watching TV for days on end wouldn't affect them physically. Thus, for the next few days, Ye Wen stayed with the two women, watching Wuxia dramas back-to-back. While their bodies were unaffected, Ye Wen was starting to feel mentally fatigued.

He looked at the two women; they were both energized. Hua Yi was flipping through the remaining tapes, seemingly choosing what to watch next.

“Oh my god, a Wuxia TV marathon…”

Although he was comfortably nestled between warmth and tenderness, and had taken liberties that were certainly not small, all Ye Wen wanted to do right now was get a solid night's sleep, not continue sitting on the sofa watching dramas.

The two women, however, seemed determined not to let him go, persistently forcing him to stay and watch. Sometimes they even resorted to sacrificing a bit of their allure just to make Ye Wen stay.

After watching for a long time, just as Ye Wen was about to drift off sitting up, Ning Ruxue suddenly asked: “Senior Brother… in this world… what can we do?”

This question immediately drew everyone’s attention away from the flickering screen. Ye Wen, too, frowned in deep thought.

These past few days, although he seemed to be wandering aimlessly, he had also been trying to figure out the basic state of this world.

Based on all the information he had gathered so far, this world appeared identical to the one he had lived in. After deliberately visiting a library, Ye Wen was reasonably certain that this world's history perfectly matched the information in his memory.

So, the problem arose: the world he had lived in never mentioned the existence of vampires, werewolves, the Church, or cultivators—yet this world clearly possessed them.

Ye Wen was faced with two possibilities: either this was Earth, but not the Earth he knew, or he had returned to his own Earth, but was simply unaware of the affairs hidden in the darkness—which wouldn't be strange, as he had only been an ordinary person before.

Whichever the case, a highly frustrating question remained: Should he try to reintegrate into this world? Be an ordinary person? After finally achieving the status of a top figure in one world, would he willingly settle for being a common citizen? Ye Wen only considered it briefly before feeling suffocated; this possibility was absolutely out.

The alternative was to integrate into the hidden world beneath the surface—perhaps the world of Eastern cultivators. But how could someone who had never encountered that circle possibly approach and enter it?

If he relied on his impression of Eastern cultivators, they were a group of ancient spirits who might disappear into seclusion for indeterminate periods, rarely showing themselves. Even if he wanted to find them, he might not succeed. Their ability to keep their existence hidden from ordinary people implied they possessed means of concealment. Perhaps fellow cultivators could sense each other, but Ye Wen was a martial artist, not a cultivator. Although he didn't know the exact difference, the fact that the magic circle set by that werewolf, Haus, specifically targeting cultivators, had no effect on him proved a difference existed.

“Perhaps the best approach is to find a way to attract the attention of these so-called cultivators. Let them come looking for me, saving me the trouble of stumbling around blindly!”

When he shared these considerations with the two women, Ning Ruxue and Hua Yi both fell into contemplation. By now, the television screen had dissolved into static; the tape had automatically ejected from the VCR upon finishing, yet none of them thought to replace it.

“Senior Brother… how about we establish a Shu Mountain Sect again!” Ning Ruxue proposed after a moment’s thought, but then her expression turned odd as she asked: “This world… doesn’t have a Shu Mountain Sect, does it?”

“Hahaha! It doesn’t!” Ye Wen laughed, though he immediately added an uncertain afterthought: “Probably… not…”

Ye Wen’s reply left the two women speechless. Neither expected such an outcome—a person living in this world being unsure whether a certain sect existed.

Perhaps feeling he was being judged, Ye Wen hastened to explain: “I only know about the Wudang Sect, Shaolin Temple, Emei Sect, Qingcheng Sect, and so on. That’s because these sects are in the open; ordinary people sometimes even visit the locations of these sects for sightseeing. As for the Shu Mountain Sect…” Ye Wen scratched his head, “Shu Mountain doesn't actually refer to a single mountain; it’s the collective term for the mountain ranges in a region of the country I used to live in. That region is called Ba-Shu, and virtually any mountain there can be called Shu Mountain!”

Ye Wen then provided a brief geography lesson: “For instance, Mount Emei and Mount Qingcheng, where the Emei and Qingcheng sects are located, are both in the Shu region, so calling those mountains Shu Mountains is also correct!”

After tutoring the women a bit in geography, Ye Wen concluded: “In my former life, I was just an ordinary civilian. I died mysteriously shortly after graduating from school in my twenties. How could I possibly know all the secrets of this world?”

“However…” Ning Ruxue pondered. If her Senior Brother hadn't suddenly recalled his "past life memories," she probably would have remained an unsophisticated country girl who didn't even know the major sects in the Jianghu. Judging by her own limited knowledge, it wasn't entirely strange that Ye Wen didn't know if the Shu Mountain Sect existed in the world he once inhabited.

That wasn't all. Ye Wen rubbed his head and brought up another problem that troubled everyone: “Actually, that’s not even the main issue. Even if such a sect did exist here, it would just be a coincidence of name. The real problem is, establishing a sect in this world today… hehe… isn't that easy!”

Ning Ruxue and Hua Yi looked at Ye Wen, awaiting his explanation.

“First, the prime locations… famous mountains and grand ranges have all been claimed long ago. If we look for a site now, we probably won't even find a dirt mound left! More importantly, land prices nowadays are skyrocketing to deadly levels. An entire major mountain? That’s not something you can claim just by having money! Without a good location, starting a sect would just be inviting ridicule!”

Ye Wen then elaborated on land ownership and reputation, making the women realize that establishing a sect in this world was far more complicated than simply finding a spot, fencing it off, and hanging a sign, as it might have been in his former world.

The most daunting question was whether he’d even need to apply for a business license with the equivalent of the Commerce Department to establish a formal sect!

“Apply for what kind of license?”

Questions like these nearly made Ye Wen pull all his hair out, turning him bald. It wasn't until he accidentally plucked a strand that the sting on his scalp suddenly sparked an idea.

“Hey? Maybe we can do this instead!”

“How?” Ning Ruxue and Hua Yi were also frowning, but since they knew nothing about this world, they couldn't come up with a plan and were relying on Ye Wen.

Ye Wen stood up and paced a few steps. The idea that had just surfaced in his mind gradually clarified.

“If this world needs to maintain superficial stability, it must cover up strange occurrences. The fact that the mass killing of those werewolves a few days ago didn't trigger widespread media coverage means someone can control that….”

Stroking his chin, Ye Wen, with slightly narrowed eyes, confirmed his thought: “Perhaps I should make a grand return to my home country, then subtly reveal a fraction of my abilities. Even if it doesn't draw out those ancient hermits, it should attract genuinely informed parties!”

“If that’s the case, nothing is more convenient than setting up a school! And if I constantly emphasize the goal of promoting culture, it won’t attract malicious attention from certain groups.”

Ye Wen clapped his hands, finally settling on his plan for the immediate future: “Return home, build a school! Create news, and then wait for the fish to bite!”

The best aspect of this approach was that it was safe and wouldn't cause any negative ripple effects. As long as he controlled his displayed power to not be too earth-shattering, it would suffice to alert certain interested parties and achieve his goal smoothly.

Sitting back down, he first lifted Hua Yi’s chin, then turned and kissed his junior sister’s cheek. “I figured it out. While we can’t establish a sect, we can start by building a private martial arts academy!” Ye Wen paused, remembering he was also skilled in calligraphy—an artistic skill that could be utilized here. “We won’t just teach martial arts; we’ll also teach calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting. I’ll set up a Shu Mountain Arts and Martial School!”

“A school?”

When the two women understood Ye Wen’s meaning, they agreed it was a viable solution! Moreover, as the school developed, it could eventually evolve into a sect. Ning Ruxue naturally supported her Senior Brother’s decision wholeheartedly.

“So happy? Then thank me properly tonight!”

Ning Ruxue gave him a sidelong look. Understanding what her Senior Brother meant, she deliberately put on an angry expression. “No way!” Yet, her flushed cheeks and her gaze, already averted elsewhere, kept stealing glances back at Ye Wen.