“C’mon, it’s only a skin. Host, your true gender won’t change—once you take off the skin, you’ll go back to normal.”

As it spoke, the system’s voice suddenly grew excited.

“But right now, you really look so good, Host! Your beauty isn’t the least bit inferior to that of your wives.”

Hearing that, Lin Mo couldn’t help feeling pleased. He immediately ordered the system to summon the full-length mirror he’d drawn before.

As soon as the mirror appeared, he stepped forward to see what he looked like now.

At a glance, he was startled—and a little amazed.

In the mirror, the beauty’s figure was willowy, with a slender waist and upturned hips. She wore a sumptuous apricot-yellow long dress embroidered with golden-thread flower buds.

Especially that face: like a silver plate, eyes like autumn water, star-bright pupils flowing with light; lips red without rouge, brows green without paint. From head to toe she radiated noble grace, bearing the aura of a celestial maiden.

Why does this face, taken as a whole, still look so much like me?

[Because the appearance is transformed based on the Host themself!]

[You can also think of it this way, Host: if you were a girl, you would look exactly like this.]

Hearing the system, Lin Mo scratched his head and looked himself over again in the mirror. He couldn’t help nodding. “As expected of me—even in a female body I’m this breathtakingly beautiful.”

After that, he lowered his head again to size her up, focusing on her chest; at close range, the measurements seemed to be a notch better than Yan Ruyu’s and Gu Qingxue’s.

Lin Mo, however, didn’t really care much about this system skin. After all, he hadn’t truly turned into a woman—it was just something the system put on him. Still, he had to admit the skin’s functions were quite handy; it even changed his clothes for him, saving him the trouble of picking out women’s wear.

“Master, what’s wrong?”

Seeing its master suddenly turn into a woman—and even his aura change—the little sword was astonished.

“It’s nothing. Don’t mind these little things.”

“Tell me how it feels.”

“Sensing…” The Liuli Sword paused for several seconds, then said, “The current master looks even better than the previous one. Xiao Li really likes it.”

Lin Mo, speechless, said, “I’m asking you: what differences can you sense about the changes in me right now?”

What he wanted to know was whether the Liuli Sword had seen through his current disguise. If even the Liuli Sword could tell, it would mean this skin’s disguise ability still wasn’t reliable or safe enough.

The Liuli Sword also understood Lin Mo’s meaning. “As for the current master, your whole body is giving off a monster aura—you don’t seem human.”

She was very curious as well. As a sword spirit, she still couldn’t see through this master. Not to mention the near-vertical rise in his cultivation; just the searing flames coiling around him already felt unfamiliar to her.

Take Lin Mo for example—he could often produce items she had never seen before and display all sorts of bizarre abilities. Now, her master could even change gender and race. This completely overturned what this little sword spirit thought she knew.

“As expected, anything the System makes is bound to be premium!” Lin Mo was very satisfied.

As a sword spirit, the Liuli Sword’s perception was quite keen. Sure enough, even she couldn’t see through his disguise. Blending into a small group of the Yao clan should be no problem.

Even so, we’ll wait until tomorrow after going to the Great Continent mountain range before deciding. “By the way, System, does this skin have an expiration date?”

[Dear Host, it costs one hundred regret points per day.]
[Of course, Dear Host, you can’t use your original abilities; otherwise the skin you’re wearing will automatically disengage.]

“Then what can this skin do?” Lin Mo frowned. “I can’t just be in disguise and not fight back when I run into enemies, right?”

[The flames of the Blazing-Fire Phoenix bloodline are fire-type attacks, like a monster beast’s usual methods. Dear Host can freely mobilize the blaze within your body.]
[Naturally, the flame power in your body will scale with how refined the flames are, matching your own cultivation realm. For example, when your spiritual power runs out, the skin you’re wearing will also automatically disengage.]

“Your settings really do follow the law of conservation of energy.” Lin Mo nodded. “Still, that’s all within reason. It’s a way to disguise myself, not a means to become stronger.”

If the ability to wear skins could be used without limit, why bother cultivating at all? I should just rely on drawing skins. As long as I pull during a lucky streak and get a monster-beast skin that has ascended to immortality, wouldn’t I ascend with it?

Just then, a series of knocks sounded at the door.

“Young Master Lin, are you in?”

Seeing it was the inn waiter, Lin Mo stepped forward and opened the door. The instant the door swung open, the waiter—who had been about to greet him—froze on the spot and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

“How strange—wasn’t the guest inside Young Master Lin? How come the one walking out is a peerlessly beautiful young lady?”

At this inn in Yunxi City, Lin Mo had stayed quite a few times. The waiter was fairly familiar with him.

Lin Mo looked at the muddle-headed waiter standing there and asked, “What is it? Is there something you need?”

The crisp, melodious voice left the waiter momentarily dazed.

The young lady before him felt like an empress from the heavens—noble and sacred, utterly beyond reach. Somewhat apprehensive, he glanced at Lin Mo, lowered his head slightly, and said, “Young lady, are you… Young Master Lin’s friend?”

Lin Mo nodded. “You can think of it that way.”

Given his current appearance, he had no need to explain anything to a mere waiter; it was better to go along with the other party’s assumption.

“Oh, I see!” The waiter still kept his head lowered as he said,
“Miss, here’s the thing—our shop just received a small batch of top-grade spirit tea today, so I specially brewed a pot for Young Master Lin.”

Lin Mo glanced at the waiter and the teacup in his hands—quite considerate.

With that, he tossed the waiter a piece of third-tier spirit stone.

The waiter put the stone away, hurried forward, and poured tea for Lin Mo.

“Miss, if you need anything else, just call for me. I’ll come serve you right away!”

Leaving the room and gently closing the door, the waiter sneaked a few more looks at the girl inside. The more he looked, the more familiar she seemed.

“I keep feeling this girl looks a bit like our young master…”

After the waiter left, Lin Mo narrowed his eyes slightly.

“There’s nothing wrong with the person—what’s wrong is the tea.”

When the tea had just been poured, the system had already warned Lin Mo that the tea was poisoned—and that the waiter belonged to the Yao clan.

Lin Mo didn’t think the inn itself bore any malicious intent.

The only suspicious point was this: earlier that day, he had gone deep into the Great Continent mountain range. And now, right after he returned from there, a member of the Yao clan was trying to poison him. It was hard not to suspect that something was amiss within that mountain range.

On the third day, when Lin Mo was leaving the inn, he asked the waiter about yesterday’s spirit tea.

The waiter paused in the middle of wiping the table and set the cloth aside.

“Miss, did that spirit tea not suit your taste?”

Lin Mo replied, “It’s not that—it’s just that I’ve never drunk this kind of spirit tea before. I’m simply curious about its origin.”

The waiter hurried to explain, “Yesterday a merchant who travels to the outer regions came to the shop. He said this tea is a special variety cultivated in his homeland. He gave some to the shopkeeper for free so he could taste it, and said he’d deliver a few batches first. The first few times I brought the tea up, that merchant even specially taught me how to brew it.”

Lin Mo frowned slightly. “So this pot of tea I drank was brewed by that merchant?”

By now, Lin Mo more or less understood where the problem lay.

There was nothing wrong with the spirit tea itself—after all, the other guests at the inn had also drunk it without issue.

The difference was that the merchant had injected demon poison into his portion of the tea.

Thinking of it that way, that merchant had likely been watching his every move from the shadows ever since Lin Mo left the Great Continent mountain range.

Seeing the young lady before him look displeased, the waiter nervously asked, “Young miss, is there something wrong with the spirit tea?”

Lin Mo suddenly smiled again. “Nothing at all—the spirit tea is quite good.”

As he spoke, Lin Mo took from his storage ring a piece of jade engraved with a formation array.

“I want to know what that merchant looks like. Hold this jade and recall it carefully, so I can find him and buy some from him myself.”

Following Lin Mo’s instructions, the waiter gripped the memory jade tightly and concentrated on recalling the merchant’s face.

When the array within the jade finished recording, Lin Mo took it back and poured his divine sense into it.

At once, the image within the jade streamed into his mind.

In the vision appeared a young man—somewhat baby-faced, with a touch of roundness to his cheeks. But what stood out most were his golden eyes.

Squeezing out through the bustling crowd, Lin Mo could already sense many gazes falling upon him. He didn’t mind; attention followed him wherever he went. Those shining eyes, combined with his natural bearing, made it impossible for others not to look. He had long since grown used to being the center of attention.

Still, the looks today carried a hint of wariness and curiosity.

After leaving Yunxi City, Lin Mo was still wondering where to start searching for that golden-eyed merchant. Just as he was pondering, someone called out to him from behind.

“Young miss, you dropped something.”

Lin Mo turned around—and froze.

The young man smiling at him was none other than the merchant who had poisoned him.

Keeping his expression neutral, Lin Mo asked, “What did I drop?”

The youth pointed to himself and said playfully, “You dropped me.”

Lin Mo almost couldn’t stop himself from cursing.

So even the cultivation world has idiots who use such corny pickup lines!

“Idiot,” Lin Mo muttered, rolling his eyes before turning to leave.

But the youth swiftly stepped in front of him. “Miss, don’t be in such a rush to go.”

“You look unfamiliar, miss—I’m afraid you’re not a local, are you?”

The young man deliberately emphasized the word “person.”

Lin Mo responded with equal calm: “And you don’t seem very human yourself.”

The youth didn’t take offense. He chuckled. “The Human Realm is so dangerous these days. I’ve just finished my business here—why not go back with me?”

Lin Mo hid the flicker of amusement in his eyes. “Go back where?”

“To the Monster Realm, of course,” the youth replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Lin Mo was certain he had never met this fellow before.

The youth leaned closer and asked again, “Miss, could it be that you’re of monster lineage—but still unaware of the monster raiders in the Human Realm these days?”

A thousand years ago, during the great war between the Yao clan and the human race, the Yao had suffered devastating losses. Most of their kind had retreated into the Monster Realm.

Even so, many Yao who remained in the Human Realm still lived hidden among humans.

That was why this golden-eyed youth had mistaken Lin Mo for one of those hidden Yao descendants.

“Meeting you is this girl’s good fortune,” the youth said with a bright smile. “In a moment, I’ll take you home.”

Lin Mo hadn’t even prepared an excuse before the other party had already handed him one.

No wonder the Yao have declined, he thought wryly. If they’re this gullible, it’s no surprise they keep losing to humans.

Fortunately, Lin Mo had no interest in today’s Monster Realm—otherwise, accepting this youth’s invitation would be like inviting a wolf into the house.