If only everyone was as supportive and passionate as this “Recluse of the Wild Broadsword Alliance”. The world would be so filled with love and peace.

And he was not the only one. There were a few other usernames that Li Mu had noticed before. Usernames like “Graceful Dance”, “Deputy of the Wild Broadsword Alliance”, “Poppy Blossoms”, “Maven Emeritus”, “Lethargic Dragon”, “You are Not Me”, “Vast Generosity”, “Dragon of the Martial Realm” and so forth. Every single one of them had put in bids for both his listings and the prices of their bids were all way beyond the true value of both weapons.

Li Mu was beginning to feel his vanity being satiated to a heavenly degree.

But the more he looked at it, the more he felt the weight of an inexplicable pathos.

“These people… For what reasons are these people pouring me such support?”

Among them abounded students of prestigious schools and sects, the influential and the wealthy, the common Cultivators of humble origins, and even those who were just barely scraping for a morsel of food to keep their stomachs warm.

And what has he done to earn such respect and adoration?

All he did was to set up a trust – a trust with just a few fairy crystals of his that he managed to put together after managed to redeem himself from the conspiracy that smeared his name.

That was it.

All of it.

He knew he had done absolutely nothing at all for all these people who were now fervently proclaiming their support for him.

In fact, it was out of his own self-importance that he set up the trust and because of that, innocent people at the Southern Street have suffered for his sake.

I did nothing. But some people were willing to give everything for me. Including their lives.

Li Mu mused solemnly.

Yet one good deed deserved another. That little act of kindness in setting up that trust had set the bedrock for his achievement of the Aspect of Virtue and earned him a host of fans and supporters on Immortal Net. That eventually saw the birth of his own fan club, the Wild Broadsword Alliance which grew to become the strongest and largest organized group in all of the Brilliance Immortal Star Region Internet forum.

“What I initially thought to be a ragtag band of online activists fighting my cause… is now…”

Li Mu peered silently at the digits that displayed the prices of the highest bids for his listings. The numbers were still rising. Fast.

“What is making them do this?”

He thought quietly.

There must be something more. Something more than just the little things he did.

Li Mu tapped on a button, shutting down the bidding for both his listings.

Without any hesitation, he arranged for the goose-feather-shaped broadsword to be gifted free of charge to the Recluse. As for the other weapon, he had Immortal Net put it up for a lucky draw. The winner would get it free of charge too.

The Li Mu just minutes before would have, without any hesitation, tap on the Sell button to proceed with the transaction.

But now, he has changed. He needed to.

He logged off his Immortal Net account.

Bi Yan was still mumbling to herself, still evidently angered over the upsurging support for the Wild Broadsword instead of Li Yidao, although she could hardly do anything about it at all.

She peered at Li Mu and said hotly, “I’m starting a Yidao Alliance, Young Master! I’ll start one and declare war on the Wild Broadsword Alliance!”

Li Mu almost burst into laughter, “Come on, there’s no need for that. Li Mu is an idol of mine. He’s the perfect warrior and the most honorable person I know. I’m nothing compared to him. Truth be told, I’m a member of the Wild Broadsword Alliance myself.”

“Ah?!” Bi Yan’s jaw dropped.

Li Mu guffawed at how adorable she looked.

“Bi Yan,” said Li Mu suddenly, “Do you still have family anywhere?”

He needed to think of ways to deal with her. If she has family around somewhere, he could release her and give her her freedom.

Both of them together – both unmarried man and woman roaming together – was still something that decorum would frown upon.

Bi Yan turned gloomy. “I suppose so. But I don’t know where and how are they now. My father was hurt when I was a little girl. So hurt that he never got well. We were too poor then and we needed fairy crystals to get medicine for my father. So I sold myself to the slave trader who was looking for servant girls for the imperial palace. For fifteen years, I have not heard a word from them, so I don’t know how are they now.”

Li Mu could not help feeling sorry for her.

Bi Yan has had a sad life, but she remained an honorable person.

Aside from power and the stages of cultivation, the world of Cultivators differed not much from that of the common people.

“Would you like to go back to them and see them?”

Bi Yan’s eyes flashed with a gleam of hope never before seen in her, although the light quickly ebbed away when she seemed to remember something as she shook her head violently. “No, Young Master. I belong to you now and I will serve you with all my life. I could never repay your kindness, Young Master, even with my death.”

Li Mu shook his head. “Family is the most important thing, silly. I am merely a passerby in the path of your life.”

Bi Yan stared at Li Mu blankly.

A strange glow shone in those beautiful eyes of hers, rippling with trepidation.

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Li Mu ruffled her hair playfully, “So where’s your hometown?”

“At the Ziwei Star Zone, on the home planet of the Heavenly Fox Clan. Green Foxes are one of the main cadet branches of the Heavenly Fox Clan, alongside the White Foxes.”

“So Bi Yan’s a native of the Heavenly Fox Clan’s home planet?!”

That indeed came as a surprise.

“Just so as well,” Li Mu grinned, “We’re going to the home planet. You can come with me. We can meet your parents once we reach there. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”

Bi Yan demurely nodded, “Mm-hmm.”

She took a deep breath, as if summoning her courage, then she looked up at Li Mu with her clear and imploring eyes. “I miss my parents, Young Master. But I wish to serve you too. Please don’t want me. Please!”

Li Mu stroked her hair again quietly.

He was about to say something when something interrupted them.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Someone was rapping on the door.

“The herbs that you ordered from our shop, it’s here, sir!”

It was the voice of the shopkeeper from Apricot Forest Apothecary.

Li Mu’s face shifted immediately.

“What do you have for me?”

It was the old shopkeeper, Qiu Ling.

“We’ve managed to procure what you need, sir,” said the old man, “Of the two persons you’re looking for, one is Hua Xiangrong. She was last seen at one of the planets belonging to the Deity Clan of the Ziwei Star Zone. She had a stunning performance there and news of this only just came. Early on, she was known by the name Lady of the Clouds and it was only until one of our agents saw the Water Mirror Technique footage of her performance and he remembered the one you left us, and only then he was certain that she is who you’re looking for.”

“Last seen at one of the Deity Clan planets of the Ziwei Star Zone?

“Hua Xiangrong is there now?”

Li Mu furrowed his brows in deep thought.

She’s further than he expected.

He had heard about the Deity Clan before. As one of the six great clans of the Ziwei Star Zone like the Heavenly Fox Clan, the Deity Clan’s influence and might place them among the master races of the ruling pantheon of the whole Star Zone.

Qiu Ling went on saying, “According to the information we compiled, the Lady of the Clouds is very close to a young prodigy of the Deity Clan. As of now, they’re traveling together to attend an event at the home planet of the Heavenly Fox Clan. A tournament with the princess’s hand in marriage as the grand prize.”

The creases on Li Mu’s forehead only grew deeper.

“And what is this now?!”

Something must have happened to Hua Xiangrong.

If he was right, then all this must be related to that Bai Mochou.

That would mean there would be no avoiding this trip to the Heavenly Fox Clan home planet.

“What about the other?” he asked.

The old man shook his head. “Countess Huanzhu? I’m afraid nothing, sir. We’re trying all other channels and once we have anything, you’d be informed, sir.”

“I see. Thank you so much,” Li Mu nodded.

“It’s nothing, sir,” said the elderly man, looking rather poignant, “Compared to the things you’ve done for my race, what we’re doing is just a simple repayment.”

Li Mu almost lost it again.

“Wait a minute.

“Something’s not right.

“What I’ve done? What did I do?

“Quit staring at me with such teary eyes!

“There must be some sort of mistake here!”

The next day, Li Mu boarded the Heavenly Fox Clan starship with Bi Yan.

This was no ordinary starship. This particular conveyance was capable of dimensional “jumping” that could allow the vessel to traverse huge spaces in leaps and bounds.

Christened as Storm’s Eye, the hundred-meters-long and twenty-meters-wide transportation was almost the size of a whale. That made it almost similar to Shan Tian’s starship, but Storm’s Eye was on a wholly different class. The materials used to build this ship worth more than a thousand gold ingots and the price of Shan Tian’s ship could barely cover the cost of building only Storm’s Eye’s deck.

As the champion of the Brilliance Immortal Star Region’s Heavenly Legends tournament, Li Mu was assigned the finest cabin onboard.

The starship’s engine roared to life with a shaking tremor. Then it hovered and like an underwater leviathan, it cruised into a portal and was gone.

“This starship itself is like a mobile galactic portal.”

Li Mu observed with amazement.

It reminded him of the science fiction on Earth, where spaceships capable of warp speed could breeze through vast distances easily.

By the time Storm’s Eye reached the next star system, they were already lightyears away from the Brilliance Immortal Star Region.

Storm’s Eye would need more than twenty dimension jumps in a total of three days to reach the Ziwei Star Region, according to one of the sentries on board. Then on another day, they would finally arrive at the Heavenly Fox Clan’s home planet.

Beyond any doubt, this was definitely far, far further than just a journey to the center of Earth.

The Heavenly Fox clansmen were very polite and hospitable to the Ten Heavenly Legends.

Li Mu and his fellow finalists were all treated to an endless supply of sustenance and various magical supplies needed for their training.

Time flitted by quickly.

Three days passed in just the blink of an eye and Storm’s Eye entered the Ziwei Star Region.

“We’ll be making an impromptu stop at White Glow to resupply before we go on,” announced the envoy after assembling the Heavenly Legends on the main deck. Proudly, he introduced, “White Glow is the Ziwei Star Region’s largest space colony in its outer orbit. It has functioned for five thousand years as a major ganglion in the whole transportation network of this star system blessed with thriving commercial activity and never-ending traffic of starships passing by. Feel free to visit the commercial areas of the space colony. You might find something to your benefit. Take anything you wish; consider it as gifts from our clan.”

“Wow… Now isn’t that too generous?!”

Li Mu could hardly believe his ears.