“Fake.”
“Authentic.”
“Faaaake—”
“Guaranteed genuine… crackle… your butt is definitely in danger…”
“Fake, fake, fake, fake, fake!!”
Shi Qixue rattled it all off in one breath, his fair ears turning bright red. This time, there was no response. That unreliable system had vanished again, proving itself even more cowardly than the scheming male lead from the original novel.
Maybe getting water in his brain had short-circuited it. So far, the useless system had only issued half of a quest:
—Find the male lead and help… crackle, crackle.
Help with what?
Was he supposed to find the male lead so the guy could chop off his head and use it as a stepping stone on his path to godhood?
And the system hadn’t even given him a portrait of the male lead. In this cultivation world, where there were more people than ants, his greatest challenge was figuring out which one was the male lead in the first place.
Shi Qixue was speechless.
He secretly punched his pillow, imagining it was that lousy system.
“Guaranteed genuine, your butt is definitely in danger.”
What kind of ridiculous nonsense was that?
In his previous life, Shi Qixue had been in poor health and spent his days confined to a hospital bed. With nothing else to do, he could only read, so he had read an enormous number of books.
This wasn’t even one of those danmei novels he’d read before. Being a master in a cultivation world might be a high-risk profession, but he wasn’t the protagonist. How could his butt possibly be in danger…
Shi Qixue suddenly froze.
He had just realized a rather tragic fact.
He was no longer a virgin.
Being a master really was a high-risk profession!!!
“Bang—”
The deafening sound of the giant bell outside rang out again.
It was the warning bell for the morning lesson at Chaoyang Sect.
Shi Qixue tidied himself up, then dragged himself outside with a sleepy, miserable expression. Still in the dark, he walked along the path, kicking pebbles as he went.
After a few more days on the job, he was going to fire the disciple responsible for ringing that bell. Who in their right mind woke people up at five in the morning, before the sun was even up?!
“Greetings, Sect Master.”
“Good morning, Sect Master Qingyu.”
Amid the crowd of people milling about, Shi Qixue pinched his palm with his fingernails to fight off his sleepiness while greeting the disciples around him.
Qingyu was his courtesy name.
They said cultivation allowed people to retain their youthful appearances indefinitely. Even those who were already a hundred years old still looked like young adults here.
That actually came as a relief to Shi Qixue.
After all, if someone who was only twenty in both body and mind had a bunch of old men calling him “Sect Master” and “Master” all day, he was afraid it might shorten his lifespan.
He also couldn’t understand what was going on with these people.
When he’d first arrived, every single one of them had been ridiculously good at flying on swords. They had nearly made him cry with envy as he stood there, completely incapable of flying.
Yet now, one by one, they had all started walking everywhere.
Shi Qixue didn’t understand.
He sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion at the highest position and began meditating. He didn’t know any cultivation techniques, much less how to teach anyone, so all he could do was put on an inscrutable expression and take the opportunity to close his eyes and sneak in some sleep.
The disciples below, however, were anything but quiet. They whispered and chattered among themselves without end.
“Sect Master Qingyu truly possesses beauty rarely seen in this world. His face is as though divine light itself has descended upon him. Just one glance at him is enough to bring us blessings of longevity.”
“…”
“Yes, yes. Although Sect Master Qingyu’s cultivation is said to rival heaven and earth, he has no airs about him whatsoever. He has actually given up flying on his sword and walks everywhere at an unhurried pace every day. Surely he’s subtly reminding us that cultivation cannot be rushed, and that only by building a solid foundation can we truly succeed.”
“…”
“Senior Brother! Senior Brother!”
Chi Yan pretended not to hear them for a long while. Eventually, unable to stand the disturbance anymore, he opened his eyes and frowned, shooting the person beside him a sidelong glance.
The other disciple wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.
Sect Master Qingyu held an extremely high position and frequently went into seclusion. He had never shown any intention of taking disciples.
This time, however, he had secluded himself for a full five years. No one had expected that upon emerging from seclusion, he would choose one of the newly admitted disciples of Chaoyang Sect as his direct disciple.
As the saying went, when one person attained the Dao, even his chickens and dogs would ascend to heaven.
Chi Yan had been the least talented disciple among the new arrivals, yet he had instantly risen to become someone everyone looked up to.
After all, throughout the entire sect, everyone could only address him as “Sect Master Qingyu.”
Only Chi Yan had the privilege of calling him “Master.”
It was enough to make everyone green with envy.
If only Chi Yan had entered Chaoyang Sect a few years later.
“Senior Brother, you’ve been with Master day and night for three days now. Do you know what he likes?”
Chi Yan’s gaze settled on the figure sitting on the platform above them.
He was dressed in white as pure as snow, his long black hair falling all the way to his waist. His tall, slender figure was straight as bamboo. His lips were pale, and his lowered lashes cast faint shadows beneath his eyes. The only splash of color was the red mole between his brows.
His beauty was enough to make even heaven and earth pale in comparison.
“Probably sleeping.”
Chi Yan’s gaze paused briefly on the silver bell hanging from Shi Qixue’s waist. His expression remained indifferent as he answered.
“?”
“…”
“Master, wake up.”
Shi Qixue felt as though someone had forcibly shaken him awake.
He opened his bleary eyes and instinctively rubbed them with the back of his hand.
Then he met the honest-looking face of his disciple.
But those deep black eyes were filled with a viciousness as sharp as a venomous snake, hiding a trace of hatred. There even seemed to be a faint flash of dark purple within them.
“Chi… Yan?”
Shi Qixue blinked slowly.
Chi Yan still looked exactly as he always did—humble, obedient, honest, and straightforward.
As though what Shi Qixue had just seen had merely been an illusion.
Chi Yan quietly withdrew the hand he’d placed on Shi Qixue’s wrist. Yet the smooth, cool sensation of that fair skin seemed to linger on his fingertips, while a faint fragrance still curled around the tip of his nose.
“The Vice Sect Master requests an audience. This disciple will take his leave first.”
Shi Qixue was still checking whether he’d drooled in his sleep when someone hurried through the doors.
The newcomer was dressed entirely in red, with strikingly beautiful features and an almost妖孽-like charm. Every movement of his eyes carried an unmistakably flirtatious allure.
This man was Ling Fengqi, the Sect Master of the Hehuan Sect.
Chaoyang Sect was the foremost sect in the cultivation world, encompassing countless smaller and larger sects. The Sword Sect, Hehuan Sect, Formation Sect, and other familiar sects were all under its umbrella.
Shi Qixue had once imagined that, as a sect master who cultivated the supposedly mighty Ruthless Dao, his life would be rather wonderful.
Sure, he’d somehow become a useless cultivator, but at least he had plenty of disciples behind him to protect him.
Yet when he returned to his sect, he discovered that the only thing behind him was his own butt.
The disciples of the sect that followed the Ruthless Dao—the Jueqing Sect—were located right next door to the Hehuan Sect.
During the years he’d spent in seclusion, cultivating with all his might, every single one of his disciples had been seduced away.
They had all switched specialties.
In the end, only Shi Qixue remained, pitifully holding up the entire sect by himself.
How tragic. How miserable. How utterly lamentable.
Fortunately, he had at least managed to take one disciple.
“Are you here to poach my disciple again?”
Shi Qixue cast a cold glance at Ling Fengqi. He had nothing good to say about someone who kept poaching his disciples to strengthen his own sect, only to eventually become the Vice Sect Master.
“Poach your disciple? What are you talking about?”
Ling Fengqi found it hilarious. A wicked smile spread across his face.
“Your disciple looks so ordinary. I’d have to be blind to poach him. If I wanted someone, I’d rather poach you.”
He leaned closer with a teasing grin.
“How about joining our Hehuan Sect? Let your disciple become the Sect Master of Jueqing Sect instead. It’s not like there was anyone else in Jueqing Sect before you anyway.”
Shi Qixue: “…”
Was that even appropriate?
But then again…
He had been kicked out of the Ruthless Dao six days ago.
And in the current cultivation world, his disciple really was the only person left who cultivated the Ruthless Dao.
“Every time you complain that I stole your disciples, why don’t you look for the reason within yourself?”
Ling Fengqi was a complete chatterbox. Once he started talking, there was no stopping him.
“You have a face that’s only slightly less attractive than mine. Who wouldn’t fall for you? Their Dao hearts shattered into pieces the moment they saw you.”
“There were so many newly admitted disciples. I really don’t understand how you chose your disciple. Don’t you care about looks or talent?”
The cultivation world was divided into numerous realms: Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Tribulation Transcendence, Mahayana, and Deity Transformation.
Golden Core cultivators were as common as the clouds. As long as they cultivated diligently, most could form a Golden Core before the age of thirty and achieve eternal youth.
As for the higher realms, talent became increasingly important. Some people spent their entire lives struggling just to touch the threshold of the Nascent Soul stage.
Yet Shi Qixue had taken a disciple who was already twenty-two and still hadn’t formed a Golden Core.
His talent was thoroughly average.
If the man had at least been exceptionally handsome, Ling Fengqi could have joked that his beauty was a calamity.
But unfortunately, Shi Qixue’s disciple really was rather ordinary-looking.
Especially when standing next to Shi Qixue’s otherworldly handsome face, the difference was painfully obvious.
Ling Fengqi couldn’t make sense of it.
“Could there be something extraordinary about your precious disciple that bewitched you?”
He gave Shi Qixue a suspicious look.
“Don’t tell me you have a thing for ugly men?”
Shi Qixue: “…”