After a meal, Pei Chuan bid them farewell. The remaining three stayed in town for a night and spent the entire next day traveling before finally reaching the Xuanyun Sect.
The mist swirled as the clear cries of cranes echoed. The mountain gate remained as it had always been. Shen Zhuo had lived in the Xuanyun Sect for decades in his past life and was well acquainted with the layout, though he saw few familiar faces among the disciples they passed.
He settled Song Yan in the female disciples’ quarters, instructing them to look after her daily needs. Entrusting her under Pei Chuan’s name, combined with the disciples’ sympathy upon learning she was blind, ensured the arrangements were handled smoothly.
Xie Yuan, however, proved quite difficult. He complained that the guest courtyard was too simplistic and lacked a homely feel, while simultaneously claiming he did not mind the impoverished state of Shen Zhuo’s own residence. With no other choice, Shen Zhuo brought him back to the courtyard where his original self lived.
Fortunately, this courtyard was shared only by him and his senior brother as the master’s direct disciples, and there were vacant rooms. He allowed Xie Yuan to pick any room he liked. This time, Xie Yuan did not fuss and moved in happily.
Once everything was settled, Shen Zhuo returned alone to his room. The scent of dust from several days of vacancy greeted him. The Xuanyun Sect advocated for ascetic cultivation, so the room was sparsely furnished and kept clean.
Shen Zhuo scanned the room before pulling open a desk drawer. Several notebooks lay quietly inside. The one on top had no title, but upon opening it, he discovered it was the diary of his original self.
The entries spanned from childhood to adolescence. As Shen Zhuo read, he realized that the original owner’s early years were remarkably similar to his own. The original self had been picked up at age three by Pei Chuan and their master and had lived in the Xuanyun Sect ever since.
In his previous life, Shen Zhuo had been taken to the underground palace by Mo Yuan at the age of twelve and was only rescued by Pei Chuan seventeen years later, which was when he began his cultivation at the Xuanyun Sect.
The greatest difference between the two lay in their cultivation. The latter half of the diary was filled with dense writing about how the original owner could not, for the life of him, achieve enlightenment or draw spiritual energy into his body.
Shen Zhuo thought it should not be this way. This body was also a Supreme Yin Body. Logically, cultivation should have yielded twice the result with half the effort. In his past life, he had reached the Tribulation Stage in just a hundred years. Why did the original self find even the initial enlightenment so difficult?
He set down the diary and picked up the worn-out cultivation manual beneath it, understanding immediately. He had never seen this specific mental method in his past life, but it largely aligned with what Pei Chuan practiced. It was likely the inner mental method of the Xuanyun Sect.
Shen Zhuo’s brow furrowed as he read. While the manual was profound, it was not a suitable choice for a beginner. By stubbornly practicing this method, the original self was bound to gain nothing.
Could it be that the senior brother and the master did not know this method was impossible for a beginner to use? Did no one truly see that this manual was ill-suited for him? Or did they see it and choose to maintain the status quo intentionally?
If it was intentional, what was the reason? Taking him in as a direct disciple only to let a cultivation genius bear the title of waste was certainly interesting.
However, these were merely speculations. He had not yet met the original self’s master, and the scattered clues were not enough to piece together the full truth.
Shen Zhuo walked to the window and looked toward the distant Peak of the Sect Leader. He suddenly remembered Pei Chuan’s reminder from the day before to report to their master. Choosing a better day than today was unnecessary, so he changed into a Xuanyun Sect Daoist robe and carefully tied his hair crown, preparing to visit his master.
The Xuanyun Sect occupied a vast area with many peaks. While stone steps connected the peaks, most cultivators chose to fly on their swords. A distance of a hundred feet was covered in an instant. Shen Zhuo looked at the cultivators passing like the wind and sighed, resigning himself to the long walk toward the Sect Leader’s Peak.
Sword flight required at least the Golden Core stage. His current Level 2 Qi Refining cultivation, gained through the system over the last two days, was far from enough. He needed to increase his strength as quickly as possible.
He called up the system panel to check his current tasks.
[Main Task 2: Search for the Jade Pendant.]
[Routine Task: Kiss Xie Yuan (1/15).]
There was currently no lead on the jade pendant. The only thing he could push forward was the routine task. Shen Zhuo seriously considered the possibilities of kissing Xie Yuan. For example, he could pretend to trip and fall toward him, taking the opportunity to kiss him. Since he had a chance to get close, he thought it best to finish the remaining fourteen kisses all at once.
The more he thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed. Suddenly, the system notification rang out.
[Ding! Task has been updated.]
[Routine Task: Kiss Xie Yuan (1/15).]
[Task Reward: Each kiss restores 1% cultivation.]
[Task Cooldown: Twelve double-hours (24 hours).]
Shen Zhuo froze. He immediately questioned the system. “What does task cooldown mean?”
[It means that after the host completes a routine task once, you must wait twelve double-hours before you can complete it again.]
Shen Zhuo stared at the new line of text on the system panel, feeling a blockage in his chest. His beautiful plan to finish fourteen kisses in one go was instantly shattered.
He nearly ground his teeth as he spoke. “What is with this cooldown? It was not there before.”
[This is a supplementary rule to prevent the host from exploiting loopholes to farm rewards. An interval has been established.]
Twelve double-hours meant a full day. He could only kiss him once a day. One accidental trip could be called an accident, but if he fell every single day, Xie Yuan would have to be an idiot to let him succeed.
Shen Zhuo looked at the towering Sect Leader’s Peak in the distance and rubbed his temples, feeling the road ahead becoming even more difficult.
As he pondered how to complete the tricky routine task and plotted how to kiss Xie Yuan more often, he kept his head down and hurried along. Suddenly, a figure flashed in front of him, blocking his path. He looked up and saw who it was. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Shen Zhuo did not know this junior brother, but the original self did. Not only did he know him, but they were also very familiar due to the other’s frequent provocations. Without needing a system prompt, the body’s instinct recognized the person.
He looked the other over. The man’s cultivation was around the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining. Although he wore the Xuanyun Sect robe, he was covered in gold and silver, managing to turn a clean, simple outfit into something gaudy and nouveau riche. This was the person whose name he had first heard in the woodshed upon entering this body: Junior Brother Huo, Huo Qi.
“Shen Zhuo,” Huo Qi began aggressively, pointing at Shen Zhuo’s nose. “You still have the face to come back? You stole my Ascension Pill and thought hiding for a few days would make everything okay? Theft is a serious crime in the Xuanyun Sect. Your character is vile. Once I report this to my uncle, I doubt even Senior Brother Pei will be able to protect you!”
Shen Zhuo stopped and looked at the arrogant face. “Did you find your Ascension Pill?”
Huo Qi was choked by his calm attitude, causing his anger to flare even brighter. “You dare bring that up? Everyone in the sect knows you were the one who stole it!”
Shen Zhuo raised an eyebrow slightly. “Others might not know, but does Junior Brother Huo not know where that pill really went?”
There was a hidden meaning in his words. Huo Qi’s face changed instantly, and he raised his voice. “What do you mean? You stole something and still dare to argue?”
He had planned everything perfectly this time. He used the Ascension Pill as bait to bribe two senior brothers to attack Shen Zhuo outside the sect while he was away. Once successful, a seat under the Sect Leader would open up, and given his uncle’s relationship with the leader, the position would naturally be his.
To his surprise, those two had returned early in disgrace, stuttering only that Shen Zhuo was very strange. Huo Qi was both shocked and suspicious, but seeing the Shen Zhuo before him looked the same as ever, old and new grudges surged in his heart.
He did not stop to wonder how Shen Zhuo had repelled the other two. Instead, he channeled his spiritual energy and sent a palm strike toward Shen Zhuo’s face. The strike carried the sound of wind, showing he was using lethal force. If this had been the original Shen Zhuo with no spiritual power, he would have been severely injured, if not killed.
Huo Qi usually hesitated because Pei Chuan protected this junior brother, but having been stung by Shen Zhuo’s words just now, he struck out in a fit of rage, heedless of the consequences.
However, the current Shen Zhuo was no longer someone he could handle at will. As the palm wind approached, Shen Zhuo did not dodge. He accurately gripped Huo Qi’s wrist. Huo Qi felt a sudden force invade his meridians, and the spiritual energy gathered in his palm was easily dispersed. Following that, a sharp pain shot through his wrist bone, and the force pulled him forward into a stumble.
He clutched his aching wrist and stared at Shen Zhuo in disbelief as if he had seen a ghost. “You, you, how is this possible! You are clearly a waste!”
Shen Zhuo shook his hand out, his tone remaining calm. “Junior Brother Huo, according to sect rules, what is the punishment for attacking a fellow disciple without cause?”
“You are a waste with no spiritual energy! How dare you fight back?!”
Shen Zhuo’s unyielding attitude thoroughly enraged Huo Qi. Unwilling to give up, he gathered another burst of spiritual energy to strike Shen Zhuo.
“No spiritual energy?” Shen Zhuo mirrored a sword with two fingers on his right hand. A layer of exceptionally concentrated spiritual energy swirled at his fingertips as he met Huo Qi’s attack head-on.
Shen Zhuo’s fingertips acted like a sharp blade, cleanly slicing the incoming spiritual energy down the middle and causing it to scatter. While Huo Qi’s energy seemed more abundant, its quality was muddled, and its foundation was clearly flimsy.
Looking at the fading embers of the energy, Shen Zhuo said, “Your cultivation is insufficient. You rely entirely on Ascension Pills to force your way up. Such pills might yield temporary effects during the Qi Refining stage, but if you rely only on external items without hard work, I fear you have no hope of ever reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.”
“You, you are talking nonsense!” Having the truth exposed, Huo Qi became frantic. “What right does a waste like you have to judge my cultivation?”
Shen Zhuo ignored him and withdrew his hand, the spiritual energy at his fingertips quietly vanishing. “Whether it is nonsense or not, you know in your heart,” Shen Zhuo said, each word piercing deep. “Your energy is flimsy and your foundation is unstable. You have the appearance of the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining, but in reality, you are fragile. If you do not settle down and cultivate properly, your path in this life will likely end here.”
“Shut up!”
Huo Qi had never heard such painful words. He had been in the sect for less than a year, relying on his family background and his uncle to pile up pills to reach the eighth level of Qi Refining. Combined with his connections, he was used to hearing nothing but flattery.
He was shaking with rage, but because his two attacks had been easily neutralized, he finally understood why those two senior brothers had called Shen Zhuo strange. He did not dare to move again, fearing a third public humiliation. He could only stand there panting, glaring at Shen Zhuo.
“Do as you see fit.”
Shen Zhuo left those four words and turned to continue toward the Sect Leader’s Peak. Huo Qi stared at the retreating back, a look of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes. He did not know what kind of medicine this waste had taken, but since he could not win in a fair fight, if he did not sneak attack now, when would he?
Huo Qi silently drew the long sword from his waist and lunged toward Shen Zhuo’s back, aiming for the heart!