âWhat is this?â Zu An was now curious. He opened it up and took a look. He saw eight large words on the title page: âThousand identities, one face; one face, thousand identities.â All sorts of detailed diagrams followed, analyzing the various parts of oneâs face, trunk, limbs, and other areas.
âThis seems to be some teaching material for sketching and anatomy.â Zu An was stunned. A small scrap of paper fell out from the booklet. He picked it up and took a look. It contained Thick-Browed Daoistâs notes.
It turned out that because Thick-Browed Daoistâs brows were too conspicuous no matter how he dressed, he would always be recognized on the spot. That only made his reputation worse and worse.
He didnât mind too much at first, but he found it harder and harder to deal with later on. He had to invest several times the effort to accomplish the same things. That was the consequence of being infamous.
That was why he always wanted to change his appearance, at the very least when he was about to commit some evil deed. That way, no one would recognize that it was him. Unfortunately, the camouflaging techniques of the martial world were full of restrictions. Even if he could change his face, they couldnât cover up his glaring eyebrows. The only way to deal with that was to shave them off. And yet, he had been so fond of those brows that he couldnât bring himself to do it.
In the end, after searching everywhere, he had ended up encountering the âThousand Identitiesâ technique. It was a miraculous secret manual!
It was clearly a manual that needed a lot of luck and enlightenment to cultivate, and yet it didnât increase oneâs cultivation no matter how much oneâs mastery of it increased. However, it could make one able to do something not even master rank cultivators could doâchange oneâs appearance at will.
It was different from the appearance reconstruction techniques that were common in Yi Commandery. Such techniques often needed medicines or other tools to complement them. Furthermore, it was hard to change oneâs appearance to the point of being completely identical to someone else.
âFace of a Thousand Identitiesâ was different. It didnât need any medicine or any external help; it only needed one to be skilled in drawing and memorization. That way, one could instantly remember oneâs appearance and all sorts of fine details.
Then, one would modify oneâs muscles and even bone structure according to the ki transfer technique outlined in the manual, making oneâs appearance, physique, and other factors completely identical. Not even those closest to the person one copied would be able to tell the difference.
Unfortunately, the manualâs cultivation difficulty was extremely high. The memorization part wasnât too bad, as the minds of cultivators were much more powerful than ordinary people. It wouldnât be too difficult for them to remember some details in the short term.
The key was that drawing was something that completely depended on talent! It was really hard for normal people to reach the level the Face of a Thousand Identities technique needed.
There was one other point of difficulty. Face of a Thousand Identities couldnât raise oneâs cultivation at all, but it consumed a large amount of ki. After all, one needed to constantly maintain the modification of their muscles and bone structure, and such things were maintained through ki. Furthermore, in order to change oneâs own body as one wished, the demand on both the quality and quantity of oneâs ki was absolutely frightening. Either way, Thick-Browed Daoist definitely hadnât reached that level just yet.
âNo wonder he only used a black cloak and didnât successfully change his appearance.â Zu An tossed the booklet into the Brilliant Glass Bead. I can turn into a girl now too; thatâs way too useful, no matter how you look at itâ¦
He really was incredibly happy with how the day had turned out. He felt fantastic when he thought about his harvest.
Suddenly, there was a large disturbance outside. The voices of the Hub of Freedomâs staff seemed to be mixed in as well. Zu An quickly unsummoned Daji, then lay down himself. Someone barged in as soon as he covered himself.
âWhoâ¦?â Zu An pretended to have been roused awake. He crawled up in a daze and looked toward the door. It was as if he couldnât process what was going on.
Meanwhile, he secretly observed the situation. The cultivation ranks of those who had come in werenât low. There were several people around Yang Longâs level, and there was another person who was even stronger; his bodyâs aura was extremely steady. He gave off a deep and immeasurable feeling.
Master rank?
The one who entered had clear triangular eyes that were identical to Sun Jiâs. Furthermore, judging from his age, he was probably Sun Jiâs father, the Yi Commanderyâs Minister Sun Xun. He looked around as soon as he came in, his gaze incredibly sharp as it quickly landed on Zu An.
Zu An suddenly seemed to have woken up from his confusion. He roared furiously, âWho are all of you?! All of you better get the hell out!â
Sun Xunâs expression darkened when he heard Zu Anâs voice. He remarked, âThe young truly donât fear death.â
The Hub of Freedomâs men also entered just then, led by Chubby Senior. However, he no longer had his earlier pride. Instead, his expression was one full of flattery as he asked, âMinister Sun, which wind brought your respected self here? Could it be that there has been some kind of misunderstanding here?â
Tang Tianâer and the others followed behind him; Tang Tianâer had the same sweet and professional fake smile as always. She snuck a glance at Zu An, a bit of confusion flickering through her eyes. Why was he able to wake up so quickly?
But after thinking for a bit, she realized that Sun Xun had slammed the door, so how could he not wake up from such a loud disturbance? Furthermore, the constitutions of those from the ocean races were different from humans, so she didnât think too much about it.
âA misunderstanding?â Sun Xun sneered. âMy Jiâer was killed. Are you saying I shouldnât be looking for the murderer?â
âWhat?! Something happened to young master Sun?â Chubby Senior asked.
âDid you not know of it?â Sun Xun stared at him with sharp eyes. âThe whereabouts of guests should be absolutely confidential when they enter and leave the Hub of Freedom. Guests have no way of knowing how other guests leave. Youâre the only ones who know how each person has departed from this place.
Chubby Senior immediately defended himself. âI am being wronged here, Minister Sun! Our Hub of Freedom has operated for so many years, and we have never done anything contrary to our guestsâ interests! This is the basis our establishment is founded on! Furthermore, young master Sun has purchased something from the auction that he has not even fully paid for, so he owes us money. Would we not be losing out on a lot if we harmed him?â
âWhat?â Sun Xunâs brow rose. The temperature of the entire room immediately dropped.
Chubby Senior could only brace himself and hand over the debt note. He gave Sun Xun a rough recount of what happened, then asked, âMay I ask if that jade pendant is still with the young master?â
Sun Xun harrumphed and said, âIt was already taken away a long time ago.â He gave the debt note a glance. Sure enough, it was his sonâs handwriting. There was even his own personal seal.
Sun Ji had already contacted him about that through a special channel. He had rushed over to receive his son when he received the message, but he hadnât expected to still be a step too late.
Chubby Seniorâs eyes twitched when he saw Sun Xun put away the debt note, but he knew that there was no chance of them getting the money back as well. In that case, he might as well let the money help them avert disaster, or else the other party might just redirect their anger toward the Hub of Freedom.
Sure enough, after Sun Xun put away the debt note, he didnât act out against the Hub of Freedom and instead looked at Zu An, asking, âYou are that 333?â
âI am,â Zu An got up and said indifferently.
âArrest him!â Sun Xun ordered. A group of people rushed at Zu An.
Zu An quickly shot Chubby Senior and Tang Tianâer a look, asking, âIs this how the Hub of Freedom treats their guests?â
Chubby Senior was a bit hesitant, but Tang Tianâer spoke up first. âMinister Sun, may I ask why you are arresting him?â
At the same time, she transmitted some words to Chubby Senior through ki, simply stating that there were so many guests watching. If they didnât do anything, the Hub of Freedomâs reputation would be done for, and they would even lose their connection with the ocean races. Chubby Senior had a huge headache. But what she said made sense, so he quickly rushed out to stop them.
Sun Xunâs eyes narrowed as he asked, âWhat, is your Hub of Freedom going to defend the perpetrator who killed my Jiâer?â
Chubby Senior and Tang Tianâer were stunned. Chubby Senior asked, âHe is the one who killed young master Sun? There has to be some kind of mistake, no?â
âOne of our men wrote that 333 was the killer before his death. What, could it be that you think I would lie about this?â Sun Xun snapped impatiently. If not for his reservations toward the one behind the Hub of Freedom, he would have already razed the entire place to the ground to accompany his son to the grave. He wouldnât have the patience to say so much at all.
Zu An spoke up just then. âAbsolute nonsense. I was in this room the entire time, and Miss Tang can serve as my witness. How could I possibly have gone out and killed someone?â
The eyes of the onlookers landed on Tang Tianâer when they heard that. They were all thinking, The stunning hostess actually kept guest 333 company? Do jade token guests really receive treatment that great?â The other jade token guests felt awful. They were also jade token guests, so why didnât they enjoy such benefits?
Now that she was being stared at that way, even though Tang Tianâer was usually confident and unrestrained, she still blushed. But as matters stood, she could only say, âJust now⦠I really was with him.â
She couldnât say she had knocked him out, right? Doing something like that to a jade token guest would be a tremendous scandal for the Hub of Freedom!