"Here's the land deed, the property deed, and the official permit. You need these to run an inn in Yellow Sand City."

The innkeeper efficiently left behind all his possessions, then departed Yellow Sand City with his wife, concubine, and enough treasure to live lavishly for three lifetimes.

Li Xuanxiao roughly calculated what remained. Di Nü Feng opened a wine vat, sniffed its contents, and made a disgusted face.

"Li Xuanxiao, why did you buy this inn?"

Li Xuanxiao replied, "Waiting for my Self Corpse to come."

Di Nü Feng pressed, "How do you know he'll come here?"

"Just guessing. We'll have to gamble on luck."

At this point, luck was all Li Xuanxiao could gamble on. He had his doppelganger hang up the "Closed" sign—business would officially start tomorrow.

Running an inn wasn't difficult for Li Xuanxiao. No need to hire staff—his doppelgangers were enough. As for his hair, Li Xuanxiao had prepared some wigs along the way to perfectly conceal his silver locks.

Li Xuanxiao then instructed Di Nü Feng to stay at the inn without wandering off while he went to gather information around Yellow Sand City.

".........."

Yellow Sand City was controlled by the Yellow Sand Sect, whose leader had reached the Transformation Spirit realm. Outside the city lurked serpent-folk tribes.

Li Xuanxiao suspected his Self Corpse would come here for two reasons:

First, Yellow Sand City was a chaotic melting pot with constant population flow.

Second, the Yellow Sand Sect leader maintained power here precisely because he'd participated in Mount Shushan's destruction. With the Extreme Demonic Hall's help, he'd slaughtered the previous city lord's family to secure his throne.

The serpent-folk tribes outside the city had lived here since ancient times, once ruling Yellow Sand City as a kingdom. But their power had waned over the years—now they only had one aging serpent king at the Fusion Transcension stage.

After scouting the city, Li Xuanxiao returned to the inn, which would open tomorrow. He sat alone in the courtyard to cultivate.

His cultivation had stabilized at Nascent Soul peak—his soul and body fully integrated, allowing prolonged independent existence and even life-saving substitutions. During his thirty-year coma, his Nascent Soul (which inherited Li Xuanxiao's cautious personality) had quietly accumulated enough infant energy to help its master break through the Transformation Spirit barrier.

Yet Li Xuanxiao dared not advance his cultivation now. First, eliminating his Self Corpse took priority—attempting breakthroughs before that would be extremely dangerous. Second, he feared accidentally crossing that threshold into Transformation Spirit. The Nascent Soul lightning tribulation's lesson remained vivid in his memory.

Thus, Li Xuanxiao currently focused on consolidating his realm with Nascent Soul Consolidation Pills and warding off inner demons with Heart-Cleansing Jade Dew Pills.

At dawn the next day, the inn officially opened. Li Xuanxiao assigned two doppelgangers to kitchen duty and two more as waiters while he played innkeeper. He'd left Di Nü Feng some toys and novels to keep her occupied indoors, but these only amused her for two days before she demanded to join the fun.

Reluctantly, Li Xuanxiao made her the innkeeper—on one condition: she had to conceal her striking appearance beyond just masking her aura. Di Nü Feng grudgingly agreed.

The next day, she appeared in purple gauze with her raven hair in a soaring phoenix bun, eyebrows painted like distant mountains, eyes outlined with vermilion sunset makeup, waving a folding fan. Seeing no customers, she swayed to the doorway.

"Hey mister, come play~"

Li Xuanxiao: ...........

He yanked her back inside.

Di Nü Feng protested, "What was that for?"

"Who taught you to solicit customers like that?"

"I saw others doing it!"

"That kind of establishment is completely different! Get back to your seat properly!"

Grumbling, Di Nü Feng fanned herself back to position. Just then, three cultivators entered—regular Yellow Sand Sect disciples.

"Where's the previous staff?" one asked curiously.

Li Xuanxiao explained honestly, "The owner sold the business to me."

"What, business not good?" The disciple teased before adding, "You know the rules, right?"

"Naturally." Li Xuanxiao nodded repeatedly.

The "rules" meant Yellow Sand Sect disciples never paid for food or drinks. Not charging them was already fortunate—most innkeepers had to offer extras they wouldn't even want. Di Nü Feng narrowed her eyes, glaring daggers at them.

Late that night, when all was silent, Li Xuanxiao slipped out. The empty streets held only faint moonlight casting mottled patterns on cobblestones where his ghostly figure flickered in and out of visibility.

Gazing at the distant Yellow Sand Sect, Li Xuanxiao had cracked their defensive formation in a single day—to him, it might as well have been unmanned. As scout puppets maintained vigilance, he wandered the sect grounds.

Patrolling disciples leaned against a large tree while chatting before resuming rounds. After they left, the tree's roots suddenly sprouted legs and sprinted away indignantly—How rude! Who said you could lean on me?

Pausing near the ancestral hall (a modest structure reflecting the sect's shallow history), Li Xuanxiao saw three corpses hanging above—Mount Shushan disciples' bodies, coveted trophies proving one's place in the new era. Suppressing his fury, Li Xuanxiao reminded himself now wasn't the time for recklessness—he needed to wait patiently here for his Self Corpse.

"Hmm?!"

Suddenly, Li Xuanxiao sensed spiritual sense probing toward him. Alarmed—his concealment arts were near-perfect, undetectable even by peak Transformation Spirit cultivators at this distance—he immediately burrowed underground where a puppet swallowed him whole, erasing all traces of his presence.

"............."

The Yellow Sand Sect leader set down his teacup, eyebrows rising slightly. Had he sensed something... or was it just his imagination?