“Thud!”
The moment before, Lu Xiuyuan had been the picture of elegance and grace. Now he fell heavily onto the reef rocks and rolled glug-glug toward the sea. Just as he was about to fall into the roaring sea, the spirit sword flew up and stabbed fiercely into the rock, stopping the tumbling Lu Xiuyuan.
The paper fox shouted anxiously: “Sect Master! Sect Master, don’t die! It was so hard for our Wenxin Sect to finally get a disciple and not fall into ruin. If you die, Sect Master, who is going to do the job of teaching the disciples!”
He wasn’t dead yet. The system transformed from the Sect Master Token was clinking and clanging nonstop in his head, and the Sect Master Token didn’t react like this to dead people.
Still, judging by this, what the paper fox said about having handed over all authority to him seemed to be true.
Not certain. Test once more.
A free opportunity, no need to feel sorry for it.
“I’m fine, it’s all for the sect. As Sect Master, these things are what I… cough cough…”
Lu Xiuyuan tried to sit up weakly, but accidentally knocked off the paper fox lying on his ear.
The paper fox was almost blown away by the sea wind. He scrambled and grabbed Lu Xiuyuan’s long hair, but unexpectedly pulled the wig off, and it looked like they were about to fly away together.
“Wah, wuwuwu, Sect Master save me, Sect Master, Sect Master, Sect Master—”
Lu Xiuyuan reached out and caught the wig. The paper fox immediately ran in a panic into Lu Xiuyuan’s clothes to hide.
Lu Xiuyuan scared him: “Be good. What if you get blown away and can’t be found? I’ll be very worried.”
The paper fox was deeply moved. Although the Sect Master’s spiritual root and talent were a little poor, the Sect Master was strong in action and a good person. Fine, a little poor talent was fine anyway; the mission of saving the world would be completed by the disciples, and at worst he would drive the disciples to the death in the future!
Having thought it through, the paper fox almost wanted to pour out his whole heart: “Sect Master, wuwuwu… in a moment when you open the sect warehouse, put me in. I carry the aura of the previous Sect Master, so I won’t be rejected. I’ll find a way to attach myself to a high-grade resource, and the warehouse will expel me together with the resource.”
That was equivalent to giving Lu Xiuyuan a big guaranteed pity on a ten-pull for an SSR.
Thinking of this, Lu Xiuyuan’s eyes immediately turned gentle as water: “Celestial Fox, you really are so capable.”
This praise was sincere from Lu Xiuyuan. The fox was a bit silly, but the fox was truly useful!
The paper fox proudly puffed out his chest. The Sect Master had praised him! He was the most useful sect guardian beast!
“Sect Master, then let’s quickly find a feng shui treasure land with rich spiritual qi, bathe, burn incense, and draw cards!”
Unsealing part of the sect warehouse to take out supplies, the Sect Master called this act drawing cards. Although he didn’t quite understand, the Sect Master was so amazing, so it couldn’t be wrong!
Lu Xiuyuan also very much wanted to bathe and burn incense, or at least wash his hands, before drawing cards, but now his spiritual qi was overdrawn and he couldn’t move at all.
In the morning he had bound the Sect Master Token and drawn qi into his body; in the afternoon he had trained the Sect Master Token to adapt to the modern era and simulate a system panel suited to modern people’s habits; in the evening he had disguised himself as a sword-cultivator master to save people and take a disciple. Lu Xiuyuan had been busy doing a lot of work, but the time he spent on proper cultivation was less than an hour.
He was now no more than a beginner cultivator with slightly more strength than ordinary people, who ran slightly faster and had slightly sharper five senses. That he had been able to act out that whole scene was truly a matter of maxed-out luck.
That he could hold on to this point was entirely thanks to the Sect Master’s idol baggage.
He knew all too well that although the paper fox was dull and foolish, he was after all a wisp of remnant soul left by the former sect guardian immortal beast, and the two words “admire the strong” were an instinct branded in his soul.
If he couldn’t even sustain this last bit of Sect Master bearing, what would he use to make him obey?
“No need.” Lu Xiuyuan looked down at him, his tone as light as if stating something perfectly natural. “I am Wenxin Sect. Wherever I am, it must be a feng shui treasure land.”
The paper fox shook all over.
The severe pain of overdrawn spiritual power raged through his meridians. Anyone else would probably have collapsed on the ground long ago, rolling and crying out in pain. But Lu Xiuyuan wore a faint, barely-there smile, and only between his brows did a trace of frailty show unintentionally, which made that forced composure seem all the more resilient.
The paper fox tilted his head to look at him. He didn’t understand what “battle-damaged” meant, nor could he read the meaning of the endurance between his brows.
He only knew that the Sect Master stood there as if he need not fear even if the sky fell.
His cultivation was clearly so low, his strength like papier-mâché, so weak that he could be blown over with a puff. So why, why did these words from his mouth make a fox… make people unable to help wanting to believe?
The paper fox looked blankly at Lu Xiuyuan, and suddenly felt that the paper carrying his remnant soul was about to catch fire.
Although he didn’t know what he was being so arrogant about.
It was really so handsome.
So handsome that it gave a fox a lot of security.
Why did it make a fox want to rub against him so much?
He didn’t quite understand. But he couldn’t help keeping on rubbing against Lu Xiuyuan’s ear.
Lu Xiuyuan was nearly rubbed over, but steadied himself: “Be good, I’m going to take stock of the supplies.”
The newbie gift pack given for binding the Sect Master Token and the supplies from the immortal fate ten-pull had been plentiful, but in the few minutes of entering Qi Refining and posing as a sword-cultivator master, the supplies had been mostly used up.
The remaining supplies were only: Sword Embryo X4, Basic Spirit-Gathering Formation X1, Blank Jade Slip X100, Spirit Stone X10, Li Fire Pearl X10.
The ten-pull had drawn 5 sword embryos, one of which had naturally already been refined into his own sword with a drop of his blood.
In addition, there were the Heaven-grade technique “Qianji Huashen Art,” the Heaven-grade “Swallow-Roaming Sword Art,” and the “Basic Sword-Riding Technique” that Lu Xiuyuan had drawn from the newbie gift pack, all of which he had already used.
The Wenxin Sect flyer the paper fox conjured with immortal fate, “Join the sect and receive a Heaven-grade technique,” truly hadn’t lied. The techniques given with the Sect Master Token binding were all top-tier Heaven-grade techniques. What could be drawn depended on the Sect Master’s talent compatibility, with Heaven grade as the guaranteed floor. There were said to be Immortal-grade ones too, but Immortal-grade techniques did more harm than good to mortals, so before ascending to immortality, Heaven-grade techniques were the very best.
“This jade slip seems a little different from the technique jade slips I obtained?”
The paper fox said proudly: “Of course. The Sect Master used the best ones! They’re all insights condensed by Venerables from their lifetime cultivation.”
Lu Xiuyuan nodded. It seemed the “Qianji Huashen Art,” “Basic Sword-Riding Technique,” and “Swallow-Roaming Sword Art Sword-Riding” he had drawn were SSR skill books with an “enlightenment” function, used once and gone at once.
He could pass them on to disciples, but could only pass on the theory, and could not make them learn it immediately.
Although there were many blank jade slips, they could only be inscribed with his own understanding and comprehension of the Basic Sword-Riding Technique and the Swallow-Roaming Sword Art. Apart from an extra layer of cultivation mystique, the only difference from a paper thesis was that one was typed on a keyboard and the other written with consciousness.
After finishing taking stock of his remaining resources, Lu Xiuyuan, somewhat excited, opened the Sect Master’s log. There had been quite a lot of clinking and clanging just now!
What met his eyes was an unbroken stream of reputation points.
【Ding—Esteemed Sect Master, you have obtained 3 reputation points.】
If Lu Xiuyuan remembered correctly, there had only been a hundred or so people on the beach just now, but the log had well over several thousand entries, of 3 points, 5 points, 10 points, even 100 points.
Looking closely, Lu Xiuyuan found that they had been provided repeatedly by the same person. But he didn’t stay happy long, because he found that fame was not upgraded on a base-10 scale, and the number of rewards he could get was not large.
【Fame: 7678/10000 (Somewhat Known)】
【Ding—Diligent Sect Master, under your leadership Wenxin Sect has gone from unknown to somewhat known. To thank you for your hard work, congratulations on obtaining Immortal Fate X1, Spirit Stone X1000, Spirit-Gathering Pill X10000, Sect-Guarding Great Formation X4, Sect-Suppressing Gate X4.】
Lu Xiuyuan’s eyes fell on the eight characters Sect-Guarding Great Formation and Sect-Suppressing Gate, and he was a little moved. The sect now had only a dilapidated wooden hut, not even qualifying as a protected building. Now at last he would not have to worry about making up why, if he was so powerful, he could only bring his disciples to live in a ruined house.
【Ding—Supreme Sect Master, under your hand Wenxin Sect has regained the light of heaven, and gifted disciples have come out of admiration. To thank you for this kindness, congratulations on obtaining Ten-Pull X1, Immortal Fate X10, Spirit Stone X10000, Basic Alchemy X1, Basic Formation Arts X1, Basic Talisman Arts X1, Basic Artifact Refining X1, Law Enforcement Hall X1.】
【Ding—Esteemed Sect Master, you have exhausted your heart and mind for the growth of the sect and happily taken an outstanding disciple, adding another bit to the sect’s fortune. Congratulations on obtaining Ten-Pull X1, Spirit Stone X10000, Spirit-Gathering Formation X100, Immortal Fate X10, Sect Uniform X100 (customizable), Sword Embryo X100, Blank Jade Slip X1000, Library Pavilion X1, Heaven-grade Technique Lottery X1, Spirit Mountain X2, Secret Realm X1 (Grade 9)】
Rich overnight!
Lu Xiuyuan swallowed a Qi-Gathering Pill. His dantian no longer hurt, and his legs no longer counted: “Let’s go! Back to the sect to draw cards!”