["Cultivation isn't just combat. It's who people believe you are… and who they're afraid to expose." – Wu Feng]
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Linchuan City – Jade Veil Courtyard
Once a year, the minor sects of the borderlands pooled resources to host what they called a "diplomatic cultivation banquet."
In truth?
It was a festival of veiled insults, arranged marriages, faction recruitment, subtle poisonings, and awkward flute solos from sect juniors trying to impress elders.
For Wu Feng, it was the perfect storm.
There was no beast to slay.No scroll to steal.No duel to win.
But within this hall moved:
Three minor sect heirs seeking alliances
One wandering elder with a jade box said to contain a legacy marriage contract
And at least six high-value cultivators desperate to gain influence through partnerships
And all of them could be deceived.
"I don't need to marry a sect heiress," Wu Feng said, brushing dust from a robe he borrowed from a merchant heir."I just need her to think I'm already important… and for her enemies to believe it was real."
Setup: The Disguise
Identity used:"Mo Chen" – Bastard son of the 'Iron Page Hall's' shadow elder. Rumored to have survived internal purge. Personality: Reclusive, soft-spoken, swordless. Dangerous when provoked."
A Pale silver robe with green thread trim—neutral, elegant, vague sectal implications
Hair: Loosely tied, single ornamental pin
Aura: Suppressed by Silent Wind Presence Cloak, mimicking latent Foundation-level presence
Weapon: None visible. Only a sealed scroll tucked into his sash—made to resemble a legacy pass
He entered as twilight kissed the towers of Linchuan's west terrace.
Music played softly—a four-string flute harmony behind whispered conversations.
Elders in fine robes sat on raised cushions, while inner disciples stood behind them, cups in hand, eyes sharp.
Wu moved like mist. Eyes flicked toward him. Recognition was uncertain—but no one challenged him.
He passed by a duo from the Azure Blade Sect, nodding slightly.
They nodded back. Hesitant.
[+5 PP – Aura Confidence Without Introduction][+10 PP – Cultivator Social Bluff (Minor Sect Recognition)]
The Heiress entered on the third bell.
Yan Qingshuang – daughter of Sect Leader Yan of the White Dream Pavilion. Known for her strategic mind, high cultivation talent, and refusal to be "claimed" by political marriage.
Robes white as frost. Earrings in the shape of crescent blades. Spirit pressure held in a focused radius.
Wu felt her presence before he saw her.
Others backed away.
She moved like a ruler in exile.
He watched her.
And smiled.
He wouldn't approach.
He would wait.
Let her notice him.
Then plant just enough mystery to make her want the answers he wouldn't give.
And finally… let her believe she chose him.
Step One: Appear to avoid her.Step Two: Be overheard saying something he didn't want her to hear.Step Three: Let her fill in the blanks.
He stood near a koi garden wall, half-shadowed. Two sect disciples nearby discussed potential alliances with Yan Qingshuang's pavilion.
Wu "accidentally" muttered:
"She's wasting her time looking for a sword cultivator. She needs a shadow tactician."
"...If her sect knew what her uncle did in Southfall, no one would touch their legacy."
The disciples froze.
"You shouldn't speak like that, stranger—"
He walked away before they could finish.
Twenty minutes later?
Yan Qingshuang approached him. Alone.
"You've said things tonight," she said, "that you shouldn't know."
Wu didn't turn.
"Then pretend I didn't."
"Are you Mo Chen?"
He turned slightly.
"They still use that name?"
"You're listed in at least four records. One says you killed your master."
He looked her in the eye.
"Only because he asked me to."
[+15 PP – Fabricated Past With Gravity][+5 PP – Controlled Ambiguity Response]
They sat.
He didn't ask for a place.
She offered.
Over a cup of warming dew spirit tea, they discussed:
Nothing specific
Everything important
She tested him with questions like:
"What is the strongest technique you've discarded?"
He answered:
"The one that forced me to explain it."
[+10 PP – Answered with Cultivator Rhetoric (No Clarification)]
Her eyes sharpened.
"You speak like someone building a reputation."
"I speak like someone tired of borrowing other people's."
A pause.
Then, silence.
She passed him a slip, faintly scented with spiritual ink:
"If you ever travel north, bring this to the White Dream Pavilion.We'll receive you."
He accepted it, folded it without reading.
"This isn't a promise," she said.
"No," he replied. "It's a possibility."
[+20 PP – High-Value Contact Acquired Without Requesting It][+5 PP – Maintained Persona While Engaging Heiress]
Later, Wu slipped into a side corridor where the Wandering Elder from East Ash Sect sat, half-asleep over a wine jar.
Wu handed him a blank scroll wrapped in illusion dust and whispered:
"A copy of the Yan family's marriage intent—just discovered tonight. Spread it quietly. Let their rivals worry."
The elder opened one eye.
"How much?"
"Keep the rumor. I want nothing."
[+30 PP – Political Trap Set Using Heiress's Name][+10 PP – Sold Nothing For Something]
👁 Elsewhere…
Crimson Root Sect Envoy:
"White Dream is planning an alliance?""They've pulled in the Iron Page remnants?""We must prepare a counteroffer—immediately."
Beast-Forged Path Representative:
"Mo Chen? Or Echo Silence? No. This one plays politics.""He's worse."
Li Qingyu (reading intel scroll):
"Cultivator named Mo Chen appeared in Linchuan. Engaged with White Dream Pavilion. No confirmed past."She added a red mark to her chart:
Alias #4 – Suspected: Wu Feng.
Wu Feng stood outside the banquet hall, watching the moon.
The scroll Qingshuang gave him tucked beneath his sleeve.
"She thinks she found an ally."
"Her enemies think she lost a secret."
"And I... get to sell both their stories."