Chapter 345: Free Advertising Gets Weird
The five servants did exactly as Cynthia ordered.
They split into and headed toward the nearest cultivation city, preparing to spread news about the newly established faction.
Fortunately, they quickly discovered that they barely needed to do anything.
The survivors of the Blue Mist Sect and Nether Blood Moon Sect had already done most of the work for them.
News about the war had spread ridiculously fast.
Everyone knew that both sects had suffered catastrophic losses, both sect leaders had died, and some mysterious third group had suddenly appeared in the middle of everything.
All the five servants needed to do was add a little more firewood to an already burning fire.
Inside restaurants, markets, inns, and cultivation shops, they casually joined conversations whenever the war came up.
"You haven’t heard?"
"That mysterious faction actually stayed behind."
"They’ve already claimed the battlefield as their territory."
Someone immediately asked, "What faction?"
One of the servants lowered her voice dramatically. "From what I heard before running away... they call themselves the [Forbidden Immortal Harem]."
Predictably, the name alone created even more rumors.
"A harem faction?"
"You mean their leader is a man?"
Another servant casually shrugged. "Apparently."
She deliberately added, "I even heard he interfered in the war because he wanted to collect talented women for his harem."
That single sentence spread faster than everything else.
By evening, the original rumor had already transformed into something completely ridiculous.
Some claimed Damian had destroyed both sects because their leaders refused to hand over their female disciples.
Others claimed he specifically hunted beautiful female cultivators and recruited them into his faction after killing their enemies.
One especially ridiculous version claimed Damian had personally challenged both sect leaders at the same time while surrounded by hundreds of women.
The five servants didn’t even bother correcting anyone. Cynthia had already told them to let the rumors grow naturally, even if some of them ended up making their master sound terrible.
After all, just like Damian had said, free advertising was still free advertising.
Good or bad, why ruin perfectly useful publicity?
More importantly, several female survivors Damian had released and already confirmed parts of the story.
They openly told others that Damian’s group had captured them, defeated the strongest cultivators on the battlefield, and kept the beautiful women with them.
Most importantly, they made sure everyone knew one thing: every member of the faction was indeed a woman except for its leader.
One woman nervously explained, "They really did have several terrifying women with them. One used wind, another ice, and that woman called Queen... I couldn’t even breathe properly around her."
That testimony immediately made the rumors far more believable, and within only a few days, nearby factions began receiving reports.
The same conclusion appeared repeatedly.
The Blue Mist Sect and Nether Blood Moon Sect had both lost their leaders to this unknown faction.
Regardless of how exaggerated the rumors were, anyone capable of killing both sect leaders had to possess at least High Golden Core combat strength.
Several factions immediately became cautious and quickly dispatched scouts to investigate the situation, wanting to determine whether this new faction could become a friend or an enemy.
Even some young geniuses became interested in challenging the so-called harem, with more than a few arrogantly thinking they could defeat Damian and take the women for themselves.
Meanwhile, none of them realized one rather important detail... their estimates were completely wrong.
The [Forbidden Immortal Harem] didn’t merely possess High Golden Core cultivators.
Two Peak Nascent Soul monsters were sitting comfortably inside that little wooden base, waiting for visitors.
---
The five servants eventually returned to the temporary base and reported everything they had heard.
By the time they finished explaining just how badly the rumors had mutated, Damian’s expression had become increasingly twisted.
He stared at them for several seconds before slowly repeating, "So... apparently, I destroyed two entire sects because I wanted to steal all their women?"
One servant awkwardly nodded. "That is one version, Master."
Damian rubbed his forehead. "Damn."
Cassandra immediately laughed. "What’s wrong? Bad reputation, good reputation... it’s still free advertising, right?"
Damian gave her a tired look.
Cassandra spread her hands. "Your name is spreading. That’s literally what you wanted."
Damian sighed. "Fine, fine."
Meanwhile, Evelyn was nowhere near the conversation as she stood quietly on a tall tree overlooking the surrounding forest.
Several scouts had already approached the territory throughout the day, but Evelyn hadn’t bothered with them. None crossed the boundary or showed any real hostility.
However, her pale eyes suddenly shifted toward the distance as she sensed two presences rapidly approaching.
Judging by their auras, one of them was at least at the Peak Golden Core Realm.
The other, however, made her expression change slightly.
If she could sense that much pressure from this distance, then that person had to be at least in the Nascent Soul Realm.
She silently disappeared from the tree.
A short distance outside the base, two men walked casually through the forest.
The younger one looked barely thirty, wearing expensive robes and carrying himself with the unmistakable arrogance of someone praised as a genius his entire life.
Beside him walked an older man whose aura was far deeper and more restrained.
The elder glanced toward the young man. "Young Master, we still know very little about this faction. Perhaps we should observe first."
The young master laughed dismissively. "Elder, you worry too much."
He looked toward the base in the distance. "Those so-called sect leaders were only around the middle stages of Golden Core, weren’t they?"
The elder sighed. "That doesn’t mean..."
The young master spoke with a confident grin. "I’m already at the Peak Golden Core Realm. I could even kill both sect leaders myself."
He looked ahead again. "Anything the rumors claim they did, I could do as well."
He adjusted his sleeves arrogantly. "If this so-called [Forbidden Immortal Harem] really consists mostly of talented women, then all the better."
𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
The elder’s expression grew tired. "Young Master..."
"What?" The young man chuckled. "If their leader could take those women for himself, why can’t I?"
The elder could only sigh again.
Unknown to either of them, Evelyn stood silently among the trees above and had heard everything.
Her expression remained as cold as ever, but a faint trace of amusement appeared in her eyes. "Food has arrived."