The autumn wind was chilly. Seeing Shen Qiang return to his room, the previously cheerful group consisting of Beautiful Demon Fox Chu Qing, Xiu Ju, Golden Cicada, and Su Xiaonuan all fell eerily silent and went to their own rooms. Shen Qiang was puzzled for a moment before heading straight to Su Xiaonuan's room, where she shyly chided, "Don't come in, I'm tired."

Shen Qiang didn't care, he just smiled.

Helpless, Su Xiaonuan had no choice but to let him be.

And went to take a shower.

Meanwhile, Shen Qiang took out the small booklet he had won from Ji Liangchuan.

It contained a record of all the cultivators in University City, a total of thirty-five people, eighteen of whom came from various sects and families and couldn't be swayed, but the other seventeen could be.

Of those, Ji Liangchuan had carefully selected seven individuals worthy of recruitment.

Wu Zhaoyang and Lan Yong's names were among them.

But these two had already become Shen Qiang's brothers.

In the following days, Shen Qiang didn't pay much attention to this matter.

After all, with botulinum toxin at his disposal, to Shen Qiang's eyes, killing those at the Golden Core Stage and Nascent Soul Stage was as easy as flipping his hand, so he didn't take those people very seriously.

But now the situation was different.

The new company was an inevitable move.

Business is like a battlefield.

Without strong personal power, he surely couldn't manage.

Not to mention, just the issue of security was a difficult problem.

So perhaps it was time to check out the situations of the other few individuals.

He opened the booklet.

The person at the top of the priority list, unexpectedly for Shen Qiang, was the MMA fanatic Cheng Hai whom Shen Qiang had a bout arranged with.

This surprised Shen Qiang.

Because, in Shen Qiang's impression, Cheng Hai was not a good person. He practiced MMA, liked to beat up ordinary people, and was overly aggressive with a severe penchant for violence.

Yet, he was one of only three Nascent Soul Stage cultivators in University City, aside from Ji Liangchuan.

Unfortunately, besides marking him as a key target for recruitment, the booklet did not detail what made Cheng Hai outstanding.

Ranked second was someone named Wang Fang, a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. It was obvious she was a woman.

She was from the Dance Academy.

The third was Wu Zhaoyang, also at the Nascent Soul Stage.

And Lan Yong was last on the list of the seven.

The backgrounds of the seven individuals were very brief and straightforward.

Eliminate Lan Yong and Wu Zhaoyang, who were already by his side, coupled with the unsettled bout with Cheng Hai, there was no talk of recruitment.

Unless, at the time of the bout, Shen Qiang could easily defeat Cheng Hai with his physical power, otherwise wooing him was simply a pipe dream.

Of the remaining four, Wang Fang from the Dance Academy was at the Nascent Soul Stage, but her major was ballet, so Shen Qiang instinctively didn't like her much. After all, it's one thing to watch someone else's woman dance in panties, but it's entirely different if it's your own woman dancing in panties for others to see.

Especially thinking about her being hugged and holding those men in tights all day long dancing together, Shen Qiang felt a strange aversion and didn't want to recruit her at all.

That left only three Golden Core Stage small fries.

They're kind of like chicken ribs, not particularly useful, but dumping them seems wasteful, especially since we're short on hands right now. Even if we pull them in, I doubt it'll make much difference, expecting them to play a leading role is probably out of the question.

But having them is better than not, any backup is good backup. So, Shen Qiang still plans to get in touch, haul them in if he can, after all, being at the Golden Core Stage is quite respectable, and one step further is the Nascent Soul. If they're young enough, they might still have some promise for future development.

Skipping the priority list.

The document also listed eighteen cultivators from various sects' families, clarifying the situation at once.

There were members from every academy.

But the numbers were very low, and they kept a good handle on their self-preservation, not too ostentatious, so if you didn't know the situation, you couldn't tell at a glance.

Beyond that, at the very end of the booklet, was a list of ten people.

The remarks about these ten people were interesting.

Top of the 'Not Worth Recruiting' list.

Hao Deben, Foundation Establishment Stage in cultivation. Special skills: None. Majoring in computer science, severe internet addiction, computer online 24/7 for downloading a massive amount of action movies, fond of numerous well-known female stars' indescribable artistic films.

Lives off-campus, goes out an average of once a month to buy large quantities of toilet paper and instant noodles. Ordinary family background, parents are laborers, prefers Magic Cloud Mineral Water, frequently orders takeout, and always includes water-boiled pork slices.

"This is an otaku, even if we roped him in, he'd probably be suitable only for warehouse duty," Shen Qiang sighed resignedly, but then he was struck by a thought.

After reading the introduction carefully, Shen Qiang's eyes lit up.

Magic Cloud Mineral Water, retail price 95.9 yuan per bottle; back when Shen Qiang was in school, anyone who drank this was considered pretty darn impressive. Not only that, but constantly ordering takeout, always including water-boiled pork slices—with that alone, it's over 30 yuan each time.

Plus the steep rent, a guy named Hao Deben couldn't afford all this on his parents' laborer wages, Shen Qiang thought with his backside.

Almost instantly, Shen Qiang realized there was definitely something fishy about Hao Deben.

Just as Shen Qiang was about to keep reading.

The door opened, and Su Xiaonuan, wrapped in a bath towel, returned to the room in all her alluring glory.

Gazing at her snow-white, slender legs and sultry eyes, Shen Qiang complimented with bright eyes, "Hey, Xiaonuan, you're truly beautiful."

With a coquettish roll of her eyes, Su Xiaonuan chided, "You bad guy, you only say I'm beautiful when you want to sleep with me."

Shen Qiang chuckled awkwardly and then said with a smile, "You really get me."

"Because I now know you're a scoundrel," Su Xiaonuan chided sweetly.

Grasping her soft, pristine hand, Shen Qiang pulled her onto the bed, and then said with a smile, "I'm not a scoundrel, I'm an immortal."

Su Xiaonuan laughed and said, "Then that makes you a scoundrel immortal."

Shen Qiang laughed too, gently hugging Su Xiaonuan into his arms, and spoke softly, "Alright, you can call me a scoundrel, I won't deny it, but there's something I have to tell you."

Surprised, Su Xiaonuan looked at Shen Qiang, "What is it?"

"I love you."

Looking at Su Xiaonuan earnestly, Shen Qiang said, "No matter how much of a scoundrel you think I am, I really do love you, I really like you, you're irreplaceable by anyone else."

Su Xiaonuan smiled until her eyes curved, "I'm guessing you say the same to Xiu Ju, Chu Qing, and the others."

Shen Qiang laughed, "Do you want me to rip out my heart to show you?"

Su Xiaonuan laughed, "If you're willing, that's fine by me."

"Then let's talk about world peace instead," Shen Qiang said with a smile.

Su Xiaonuan immediately frowned but couldn't help laughing within a second, "You bad person, you were the one who said you'd rip out your heart for me. I didn't object, but now you're bringing up world peace. I think it's time to punish you."

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