Ye Wen froze the moment the woman appeared, and connecting that with the conversation he'd just overheard, a sudden flash of insight struck him. "Why does this scene look so familiar?"

In that brief hesitation, the woman had already arrived beside Ye Wen, set the two plates of food before him, and then refilled his wine cup: "Where does this esteemed guest hail from, and where are you bound?"

Unable to restrain himself, Ye Wen blurted out, "I come from whence I came, and go where I am going!" His hand almost formed a Buddhist gesture, but the mere fact he was still gripping his chopsticks served as a reminder, snapping him back to the present.

That statement stunned the woman. It didn't sound like something a young master would say; it was more fitting for an old monk in a temple—"Could this fellow be the disciple of some eminent monk?"

But then again, she considered, perhaps these young masters simply enjoyed delving into Buddhist philosophy or Taoist studies, so such words weren't entirely out of place. Still, due to her limited experience, she couldn't immediately formulate a suitable reply, so she could only offer a dry laugh before introducing herself: "I am the proprietress of this inn. My surname is Sun, and since I am the second born, folks call me Sun Erniang..."

"Pfft!"

Realizing he had momentarily slipped up, Ye Wen, who was slowly sipping his wine to mask his embarrassment, choked on a large gulp upon hearing the name. Fortunately, his reaction was quick, and he sprayed the wine onto the woman rather than the dishes before him—though he had no intention of touching those dishes now anyway.

Ultimately, it was the sheer ferocity of the woman's name that made him question the actual ingredients of those dishes.

Casually, he reached into his robe, and this motion caused the loosely fastened front of her garment to part slightly, revealing a hint of her sun-kissed, rounded form in the narrow gap—just enough for Ye Wen to catch a clear glimpse.

He couldn't tell if the woman did it intentionally, but when she then carelessly hitched up her coarse linen skirt, exposing a sliver of her shapely thigh, Ye Wen became certain she was doing it on purpose.

"Heh, playing the honey trap?"

Ye Wen had cultivated his inner being in this world for nearly ten years, spent decades more traveling outside, and then diligently practiced for over a decade after inexplicably arriving in the Immortal Realm. If nothing else, his mastery of Qi cultivation had reached an exceptional level. Never mind a woman coquettishly posing or flaunting her bosom before him; even if she stripped bare and jumped into his lap, he could maintain a perfect stillness—a "six o'clock position" with zero response—and proceed with whatever else he needed to do!

Of course, this wasn't to say Sun Erniang was unattractive; in fact, her looks were notable, and here in the wilderness, she possessed an added layer of untamed allure. Her eyes, slightly foxy, held a unique charm. In such a desolate place, having a woman like this as an innkeeper meant that not running a black-hearted establishment would be a grave misuse of such ideal qualifications.

Seeing the woman sit down beside him, her captivating eyes fixed intently on Ye Wen, the meaning behind her gaze was startlingly naked, utterly without concealment—and yes, Ye Wen noticed clearly that the hint of murderous intent was likewise unconcealed.

After sitting for a while, Sun Erniang noticed Ye Wen only drank, leaving the dishes untouched, especially that mound of water-boiled peanuts; her success in this venture hinged entirely on that item.

"Why only drink? Perhaps the dishes don't suit your taste?"

Ye Wen merely smiled without speaking, continuing to drink!

Seeing his silence, Sun Erniang assumed he was a pampered young master who had lost interest upon seeing the coarse preparation of the food. But this held no benefit for her, so she picked up a pair of chopsticks, deftly plucked a peanut, and said, "Young sir, drinking alone is bad for the body, you know!"

She offered the peanut to Ye Wen's lips. Only after he took the peanut and chewed it did she let out a sigh of relief, preparing to leave. Unexpectedly, Ye Wen reached out and gently held the back of her hand, his thumb circling slowly over her skin.

"A rude young man taking liberties with an old lady? I thought you looked like an honest sort, but you're a rogue underneath!"

Though she thought this internally, her face bloomed into a brilliant smile, and she leaned even closer to Ye Wen, asking sweetly, "Oh? What is the young sir doing?"

Ye Wen silently scorned, "Keep up the act! Keep pretending!" but said aloud, "There are some things I need to discuss with Second Sister Sun!"

Sun Erniang believed the young man was completely captivated by her. With secret triumph, she subtly signaled to the two figures peeking from the adjacent partition: Watch my performance!

After seeing both give her a hearty thumbs-up, she turned back to Ye Wen, feigning total unawareness: "What manner of matter would you like to discuss... specifically?"

Just as Ye Wen was about to speak, he suddenly felt something crawling on his thigh. Looking down, he saw her other hand had somehow managed to settle there: "Damn, you're quite forward!"

Since she had been so proactive, Ye Wen saw no need to feign innocence. He reached out and pulled her toward him in one swift motion, settling her across his lap, and took a deep pull from his wine cup: "Let's talk about something pleasant!"

Ye Wen's movement was so sudden and without warning that Sun Erniang cried out in shock, but she recovered almost instantly, leaning back into him: "What is pleasant to hear?"

She had fully expected the young man to immediately utter some platitude that would make any moralist blush. Instead, the next sentence nearly made her choke back blood in frustration.

"The weather is quite nice today; I estimate it might snow..."

Sun Erniang almost lost her breath. She began to contemplate whether she should just eat this fellow tonight. While he didn't appear entirely honest, his appearance was certainly excellent. Yet, despite being pressed so close, she felt none of the expected physical response, leading her to muse internally: Could he be all show and no substance?

Answering Ye Wen's non-sequitur, she replied: "Young sir, are you confused? How could it snow here?"

"Hm?" This single sentence gave Ye Wen a solid lead: "Am I perhaps in the South?" If so, he could simply fly north later and stop in a town to inquire—he knew techniques to conceal his movements, so he wasn't afraid of causing panic by being spotted.

"South of Xizhou, when has it ever snowed? Did the young sir perhaps come from the North?"

"That is correct!" Ye Wen agreed with a smile, pouring himself another cup of wine. "I lived in the North in my younger years..."

Coincidentally, Sun Erniang reached for a few more peanuts and began feeding them to Ye Wen one by one: "Eat, eat, eat more so you can sleep soundly!"

Little did she know Ye Wen was completely unconcerned. If she dared to feed him, he dared to eat. He had already consumed several peanuts during their conversation, yet showed no signs of drowsiness.

"Tell me, are you aware of the current state of the Jianghu?"

"Oh? How would a frail woman like myself know about such matters?" Sun Erniang narrowed her eyes, internally puzzled: Why is there no reaction yet?

Seeing her evasiveness, Ye Wen shifted his line of questioning: "Right, I heard the most powerful sect currently is the Mount Shu Sect. I wonder if the proprietress has heard of them?"

Sun Erniang nodded while responding: "Of course, I've heard of them!" inwardly thinking, Perhaps he just eats peanuts without drinking the wine? She quickly reached over to pour him another cup, then pressed her body closer to Ye Wen while urging him, "The Mount Shu Sect has such great renown; who in the world hasn't heard of them?"

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Ye Wen became genuinely interested!

Sun Erniang continued: "Ever since fifty years ago... when the Mount Shu Sect Master, known as the Sword Immortal, shattered the void..."

"Wait a moment!" Ye Wen paused, sensing something was amiss: "Wasn't it thirty years ago?"

This time, Sun Erniang was the one who looked puzzled. She glanced at Ye Wen, then firmly concluded: "It was fifty years ago, that is absolutely correct! This event would never be misremembered! Zhou Zhiruo of the Mount Shu Sect is nearly seventy now, yet she still looks like she's in her twenties or thirties, only her hair has turned entirely snow-white. Many passing martial artists discuss this, so I remember clearly!"

Ye Wen was now certain it had been fifty years later, yet he was certain he hadn't been gone that long.

"The only explanation is that the time flow rate of the Nine Cauldrons and the outside world is inconsistent. But when Xu Xian and Li Xiaoyao came out, their conversation suggested the flow rate was the same. Could something have changed with the Nine Cauldrons during the ascension?"

In reality, it was precisely because Ye Wen ascended to the Immortal Realm that the surrounding elemental energy became incredibly abundant. The Nine Cauldrons, like a fish newly introduced to water, had many exquisite functions stimulated—otherwise, Ye Wen wouldn't have been able to refine it so quickly. The time flow within the cauldron world had accelerated slightly.

Simply put, with superior energy input, the power output of the Nine Cauldrons had increased!

Although Ye Wen didn't grasp the exact mechanism at this moment, he had deduced the general situation. Just thinking about it made him secretly count his blessings: "It's a good thing I came in now; if I had delayed another ten years, I wonder how many disciples would still be alive!"

In this scenario, Zhou Zhiruo would be around seventy, and Yue Ning would definitely be over seventy. As for the older ones like Xu Ping or Liu Muyan, they would be approaching ninety.

Counting them up, he realized that if all his disciples were still alive, they must all be old men with snow-white hair!

"Who is the current master of the Mount Shu Sect?"

Ye Wen suddenly realized that his group of disciples was different from him; they had been cultivating martial arts in this world continuously. Although the martial arts of the Mount Shu Sect possessed properties that prolonged life and maintained vitality, it didn't grant immortality. Seventy or eighty years was often the limit for ordinary people.

Sun Erniang found that the conversation kept circling back to the Mount Shu Sect and felt a wave of boredom. She thought viciously to herself: He's still thinking about Mount Shu? He’s about to join the King of Hell's sect! Since the young man looks decent, I’ll let him have some final worldly pleasure...

She had pegged Ye Wen as a young man hoping to join Mount Shu, so her tone softened slightly as she replied perfunctorily: "I'm not sure about that!"

Ye Wen frowned, sensing something was wrong. The transfer of the Sect Master position to Yue Ning back then had caused quite a stir in the Jianghu. After all, he had been under thirty when he passed the mantle, albeit because he was preparing to shatter the void. This act had also propelled Yue Ning's name into infamy.

Sun Erniang's demeanor when she spoke seemed genuine, meaning she wasn't lying—she truly didn't know who the current Mount Shu Sect Master was. That implied...

"What about Sect Master Yue of Mount Shu?"

"Sect Master Yue?" Sun Erniang pondered for a moment before recalling that the original Yue Zhang had passed away long ago. "At least since I've been old enough to understand things, I haven't heard much about that Yue Zhang."

"Passed away?" At this moment, Ye Wen disregarded the fact that Sun Erniang was still sitting on his lap. He shot up from his seat so abruptly that Sun Erniang, who had been comfortably seated across his thighs, was flung clear across the room. The table before him instantly shattered into splinters. Wine and food scattered everywhere.

Almost simultaneously, two figures rushed out from the back: one was the waiter, and the other was presumably the fellow called Tu Zi. One held a steel blade, and the other held a pair of large cleavers—the kind typically used for chopping bone.

The man who had been motionless behind the counter also reached under it, retrieving a steel blade to block the entrance. The three of them subtly formed a ring around Ye Wen, ready to strike him into pieces the moment an opportunity arose.

However, Ye Wen paid them no mind, standing there stunned: "Ning'er passed away?"

His voice wasn't loud, but in the sudden silence, it shouldn't have been inaudible. However, just then, Sun Erniang lay on the ground, clutching her lower back, groaning, "Aiyoh, aiyoh!" while pointing at Ye Wen and shouting: "You lunatic, why did you suddenly throw me off? Were you trying to smash me to death?"

"Proprietress, did the plan fail?" The others, keeping their distance, had only seen Ye Wen smiling pleasantly while holding Sun Erniang, conversing with her—they hadn't heard the specifics. Seeing the proprietress suddenly tossed aside, they assumed the scheme had been exposed.

Unexpectedly, Sun Erniang roared back: "What are you asking, you fools! Now that you've drawn your weapons, everything that was hidden is now exposed!" Then she groaned again, clutching her waist, "This brat probably felt something coming on, realized something was wrong, and decided to deal with him quickly!"

But before she could finish speaking, she noticed her subordinates’ faces were flushed crimson. Though their steel blades were raised, they did not fall. The three men stood around Ye Wen as if frozen in a bizarre tableau.

"What are you doing?"

Sun Erniang tried to get up but found she couldn't move either. Only then did she realize something was terribly wrong. Looking up at Ye Wen, her eyes filled with terror: "Did I run into some evil spirit..." Combined with the icy cold expression on Ye Wen's face, none of them dared to speak or beg for mercy.

"I originally intended to have a civilized conversation with you, but now I see that's unnecessary."

He was now certain this was a black shop, and the news he just received had extinguished any desire to toy with these people. "You answer my questions, and if you answer well, I might grant you a quick death!"

"Hmph! Do you take us for fools? Answer well and get a quick death means we die regardless! If you have the guts, kill me in one blow!"

Tu Zi was clearly hot-tempered and spoke whatever was on his mind. But today he faced Ye Wen and couldn't be bothered to argue. "Whether I have guts is not for you to judge, but since you wish to die, I shall oblige... To avoid accusations of needless slaughter, first tell me this!" He pointed at the scattered vegetables on the floor: "What were those dishes made of?"

Tu Zi was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter: "The little brat has some insight; he actually recognized it! We aren't wronged to fall into your hands today!"

Ye Wen had merely asked out of curiosity, never expecting he'd guessed correctly. He had been wary because of the proprietress's name, but now, he was spared from potentially having to commit an act that would leave him feeling disgusted.

However, Ye Wen never showed mercy to villains like these. Hearing the admission, he slapped Tu Zi lightly on the chest. The large man immediately collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"Wh-what kind of demonic art is this?"

The others were terrified. Setting aside what magic was paralyzing them, the simple fact that Ye Wen had struck the huge man with a casual tap—as if offering a greeting—and killed him instantly, was terrifying. They looked at him as if he were a monster.

"Demonic art? Haven't you heard of the Mount Shu Sect's Mian Zhang (Soft Palm)?"

"Stop talking nonsense! That Soft Palm technique isn't some profound art; many passing martial artists know a few moves, and I've sparred with some myself. How could it be this eerie?"

This time, it was the shopkeeper who spoke, surprisingly knowledgeable about the Soft Palm technique and having even exchanged blows. Ye Wen, however, wasn't lying; what he had just used was indeed the Soft Palm: "It's just that those lesser practitioners haven't mastered it!"

Feeling he was veering off topic, Ye Wen walked up to the shopkeeper and asked, "It seems you're quite familiar with the Jianghu. Let me ask: who are the elder masters in the current Mount Shu Sect?"

"Why do you ask that?"

Ye Wen saw his eyes darting around, likely plotting something. Without wasting time, Ye Wen raised his palm, intending to strike his shoulder. The shopkeeper immediately turned pale with panic: "I'll tell you, I'll tell you! Great Hero, please don't strike!" He knew that if Ye Wen's palm landed on his shoulder, he might not die, but the pain would be unbearable. He hastily spoke up, hoping Ye Wen would stop.

"Speak!"

Ye Wen kept his palm suspended near the shoulder, ready to strike at any moment.

"To my knowledge, the Mount Shu Sect currently has many masters. To list all their names would require..."

Ye Wen frowned in impatience and snapped: "Only mention the elders!"

"Yes, yes!" The shopkeeper felt cold sweat beading on his forehead, yet he couldn't move to wipe it away. He had no choice but to speak honestly: "Speaking of elder masters, first is Elder Zhou. Elder Zhou's swordsmanship is unrivaled in this era..."

"Spare the details. I only ask who they are!"

"Yes! Besides Elder Zhou, there is Elder Guo and Elder Nangong!"...