In the eyes of many in Shen City, the special Honored Guest Elder of the Cyan Cloud Li Family, Mr. Wang Jiu, is as mysterious as his appearance.

His origins are unknown, his strength is unclear, his cultivation techniques are a mystery, and even his real age is uncertain. There are only two points that can be confirmed. First, his strength is extremely formidable; although he looks young, none of his peers can last more than three moves against him. It’s said that even the Zhao Family’s thirty-year-old square-faced member was defeated by him, firmly establishing his place as the strongest of the younger generation. Second, he is exceptionally handsome, to the point of being beyond reason. Having stayed in Shen City for three months, he has naturally amassed a large group of female fans — and a small number of male fans too. These fan groups are large in number, highly formidable, and completely unreasonable, resembling religious zealots who are difficult to reason with. When asked why people are so fond of a mysterious stranger from Cyan Cloud who keeps a low profile, 99% of people answer: Have you seen how handsome he is?

Attracting a large number of die-hard fans just by being handsome is a rare occurrence in the history of Shen City, and it’s something that many people find difficult to understand.

For example, the current Deputy City Lord, Shen Ziqiong, is utterly baffled. Speaking of handsomeness, back in the day, Shen Ziyu was no less dazzling than Wang Jiu, but he never received the kind of treatment Wang Jiu enjoys today. Walking down the street, while he might make young ladies and married women blush, he certainly never caused them to shout that they wanted to have babies with him.

But no matter what, the objective reality is that Wang Jiu is this handsome and charming, appealing to both the young and old. As his number of fans continues to grow, his prestige and status in Shen City rise accordingly.

A few months ago, when he was in Shen City’s Outer Courtyard, Shen Feihong and Shen Feihu considered themselves peers. But as time passed, in their eyes, Wang Jiu’s status now equates to that of those senior figures like the Deputy City Lord. So when it comes to seeking Wang Jiu’s help, it truly leaves them feeling quite awkward, not knowing how to approach him.

Out of necessity, they sought out the intermediary, Li Wanqing. In their view, aside from Shen Qingming, Li Wanqing is the one with the closest relationship with Wang Jiu. Additionally, due to Shen Ruoshi’s previous absurd actions, Shen Qingming might have a poor impression of the Shen Family, so they decided to seek help from Li Wanqing. Although she is also from the Li Family, she has been having various close interactions with the women of the Shen Family recently, showing no hint of resentment towards them.

The brothers’ choice proved correct. Li Wanqing bore no grudge against the Shen Family, especially after sampling the beauties of Shen City, she had long regarded the place as her second hometown. Today, having received an exclusive special selection ticket only available to the upper echelons of Shen City, she was more motivated than ever.

"Don’t worry, leave it to me."

And within less than half an hour of saying that, Li Wanqing successfully brought Wang Jiu before the two brothers: "Alright, the reinforcement is here, the rest is none of my business."

Shen Feihong and Shen Feihu were left dumbfounded. How was the revered Wang Jiu, who was like a god and hid from the countless adoring girls in Shen City, so easily roped in as labor? And judging by Wang Jiu’s demeanor, he didn’t seem opposed to the hard work at all?

What kind of deal did these two people make behind the scenes? Judging by the time, half an hour hardly seems worthy of Wang Jiu’s god-like reputation...

With a hint of skepticism, Shen Feihu asked, "Well, Mr. Wang Jiu, do you understand the situation?"

Wang Jiu, of course, understood. When Li Wanqing asked him, she clearly explained the situation: two fools need your help, and if you have time, go check it out.

Wang Jiu gladly accepted.

To those familiar with him, the Celestial Divine Sword Spirit is far from as aloof as people might think. On the contrary, his attitude towards humans is much more approachable than most humans themselves. Generally, as long as it’s not against Sword Spirit principles, Wang Jiu wouldn’t outright refuse a request for help.

Especially when he realized the "fools" Li Wanqing mentioned were Shen Feihong and Shen Feihu, the descendants of his old acquaintances, Wang Jiu was even more eager to assist.

"I heard you need help, so shall we begin now?"

The Hong Hu Brothers were taken aback. Was Wang Jiu’s nature so straightforward? Jumping right to the point without any prelude, it was almost flattering.

"Alright, then... let’s begin," Shen Feihu responded with a hint of nervousness.

"First, we need to understand your current situation." As Wang Jiu spoke, he laid two test papers in front of the brothers. "Try to complete this test within ten minutes."

Glancing at the test paper, Shen Feihu noticed it was densely packed with several hundred questions, covering everything from astronomy and geography to array calculations and theoretical deductions. With ten minutes, finishing the paper was out of the question; even reading through it all seemed impossible.

But since Wang Jiu said to try completing it, it wasn’t like he demanded full completion, so the brothers focused and quickly started answering.

After ten minutes, the two stopped writing before Wang Jiu could say anything. Each took a deep breath, Shen Feihong even breaking into a cold sweat on his forehead.

The difficulty of the test was truly high. The initial general knowledge questions alone often left them bewildered. The topics covered were extensive, with uncommon knowledge points; even though they prided themselves on their broad reading, most questions were beyond their grasp. As for the array calculations and theoretical deductions later on, they were so challenging they made them question their own intelligence... Shen Feihong was stuck on the very first question for a full five minutes before he could write anything.

But regardless, results are results. The brothers respectfully handed the test papers to Wang Jiu. Wang Jiu glanced over them and showed a look of surprise.

"Your results..." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Face-to-face with Mr. Wang Jiu’s comments, the two brothers felt utterly embarrassed, deeply regretting that they had not studied diligently enough, leading to the loss of face for the Shen Family in front of Mr. Wang Jiu.

But in the next moment, they heard Mr. Wang Jiu say, "Unexpectedly good."

"Huh?"

Mr. Wang Jiu said, "This is a comprehensive intelligence test I’ve designed recently based on the actual situation of the Xiangzhou Continent. Based on the answers, I can make an initial assessment of a person’s intelligence level. Compared to the previous Vajra Subduing Magic, this new testing method is more precise and convincing, and the test results do not contradict the old Vajra Subduing Magic method, which shows its strong practical significance. Your results are 4.1 and 5.2, respectively, within the normal range of 4-6..."

Before he could finish, Shen Feihu couldn’t help but interrupt, "Mr. Wang Jiu, may I ask why you tested our intelligence?"

Mr. Wang Jiu was puzzled, "To carry out intellectual disability correction for you, of course, I need to first understand your Intelligence Index, and then plan accordingly."

"Intellectual disability correction!?" Shen Feihu was practically scratching his head, "Since when did we need intellectual disability correction!?"

Mr. Wang Jiu looked even more puzzled, "Li Wanqing said two idiots came to ask for my help, wasn’t she talking about you?"

Shen Feihong, with a resigned look, said, "No, she was indeed talking about us..."

"So I needed to conduct a preliminary investigation into your situation to determine the specific correction plan. I think the issue of intellectual disability is widespread among the general male population, just a normal physiological phenomenon, and there’s no need to feel ashamed about it. With the correct methods of correction and treatment, there is a great hope of returning to normal."

The more he listened, the more uncomfortable Shen Feihong felt, ready to delve deeper into the theory, but his brother Shen Feihu wisely chose to change the topic: "Mr. Wang Jiu, let’s put the intelligence issue aside first. We did come to you with an important request. Here’s the situation: a while ago, the Shen City Publishing Alliance..."

When Shen Feihu finally clarified the backstory, Mr. Wang Jiu had an epiphany, "So you’re here to ask me to investigate the Fire Dragon Burner. That’s simple, we just need to go to the site to see for ourselves."

Shen Feihu promptly led the way, and to avoid Mr. Wang Jiu bringing up the intellectual disability issue again, he handed over the investigation reports from the elite agents for Mr. Wang Jiu to review on the way.

A few minutes later, the three of them arrived at the scene of the first warehouse fire. After bypassing layers of cordons, they saw a circular charred hole in the ceiling, directly above the storage room for the Original Jade Plates. The ground also bore scorch marks, an array of circular, radiating black streaks resembling a blossoming flower imprinted on the floor.

Seeing the scene, Shen Feihong and Shen Feihu simultaneously furrowed their brows.

As cultivators, the intense fire scene appeared even more distinct under their Spiritual Vision, infused with the essence of heaven and earth, conjuring images of a scorching fire dragon descending from the sky, penetrating the room’s multiple defenses and thick stone ceiling in an instant. However, based on several agents’ detailed investigations, no human traces were found at the site, leading to the conclusion that it was a capricious act of heaven...

"It’s deliberate."

Lost in thought, Mr. Wang Jiu’s words snapped them back to reality.

"It’s unrelated to the heavenly way; this scene was intentionally made to look like heavenly fire descended to mislead the following investigators."

"Disguise, mislead?" Shen Feihu incredulously said, "The participants in the investigation are the most elite and experienced agents in this city, mostly from the Cultivator background, with cultivation ranging from Cloud Surge Realm to Rain Cover Realm. Moreover, their personal cultivation is secondary; their investigative tools and methods have been continually refined over hundreds of years in Shen City, and are nearly flawless. Who could bypass such scrutiny?"

Mr. Wang Jiu said, "Someone with cultivation above the Sea Overturning Realm, who has initially grasped the essence of Heaven and Earth Dao, could set up a disguise perfect to those of lower levels... Or it could be an insider familiar with all the agents’ procedures who only needs to make changes at several key points to obscure the truth."

As he spoke, Mr. Wang Jiu paced around the black floral pattern on the ground, saying, "From the traces he’s left, he should be a cultivator skilled in Five Elements Immortal Technique, with actual cultivation at the Mountain-Overturning Realm."

Hearing this, the brothers exchanged glances, both feeling a sense of peculiarity.

As large as Shen City is, the cultivators with Mountain-Overturning cultivation can be counted, and even fewer are skilled in Five Elements Immortal Technique. But among these people, who would be idle enough to play a trick involving the Fire Dragon Burner?

While pondering, they heard Mr. Wang Jiu continue, "Additionally, this person has long hair, a ponytail, a fair complexion, and wears a monocle..."