Simping Rules the Day

Lu Changsheng summoned his treasured sword and rode it through the air, his Daoist robes whipping in the wind. The flying sword cleaved through the sea of clouds like a streak of light, covering ten thousand li in a day.

Even so, it took Lu Changsheng a full five days to reach Southguard Pass in the Liang Kingdom.

Southguard Pass was one of the border passes between Xiazhou and Desolate Province. Three hundred thousand soldiers guarded it against incursions by the tribes of Desolate Province.

Suddenly, a tall figure descended from the sky and landed on the scarred walls of Southguard Pass.

The figure was like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, too dazzling to look at directly.

"Who are you?"

The Liang Kingdom soldiers nearby surrounded Lu Changsheng with swords and spears in hand, tense and on edge.

Lu Changsheng had flown here on a sword, so his cultivation was at least at the Qi Condensation Realm. Even an ordinary general of the Liang Kingdom was only at the Qi Condensation Realm!

Lu Changsheng turned his palm over, producing a metal token bearing the two characters "Shushan" in ancient seal script. "I am an envoy from Shushan. Where are the people from the Ask Immortal Pavilion?"

"So you're an immortal from Shushan!"

"Quick, report to the Southguard General and the immortals from the Ask Immortal Pavilion!"

"Please wait a moment, Immortal of Shushan."

At the sight of the Shushan token, the Liang Kingdom soldiers and officers around them all turned envious gazes on Lu Changsheng.

Shushan was the foremost righteous sect in Xiazhou, its incense offerings continuing for hundreds of thousands of years. The Dao Ancestor of Shushan was a figure of legend.

In their eyes, Lu Changsheng had the bearing and bones of an immortal. He was unquestionably one.

"I am Yun Tiannan, the general in command of Southguard Pass. I welcome you, Elder of Shushan. Please follow me, Elder. The elders of the Ask Immortal Pavilion have been waiting for quite some time."

The general in command of Southguard Pass was a Rogue Cultivator at the ninth layer of the Golden Core Realm. In the eyes of mortals, his cultivation was already unfathomable, but in Shushan, it was inferior even to that of the lowest-ranking elder.

As for Shushan elders at the Dao Palace Realm, he might spend his entire life looking up to them.

Lu Changsheng followed the general into the city within the pass and entered a magnificent mansion.

The party from the Ask Immortal Pavilion had been waiting in the mansion for quite some time. There were over twenty of them, led by an emaciated old man leaning on a cane.

Although the man looked like a candle flickering in its final years, Lu Changsheng did not dare underestimate him.

Elder Kumu was an elder of the previous generation of the Ask Immortal Pavilion. He had cultivated for eight hundred years, and the last time he had fought, he had displayed cultivation at the fourth layer of the Dao Palace Realm.

Besides Elder Kumu, there were two other elders of the Ask Immortal Pavilion, a man and a woman, both carrying longswords on their backs.

The man was fairly handsome and had an extraordinary bearing. The only thing amiss was the ingratiating, fawning look he gave the other Dao Palace Realm cultivator, the woman.

Simp!

Lu Changsheng sighed inwardly.

Who would have thought that even in the world of immortal cultivation, simps would rule the day?

Sure enough, everyone judges by appearances.

Lu Changsheng shifted his gaze to the female Dao Palace Realm cultivator from the Ask Immortal Pavilion and was momentarily taken aback.

The woman was clad in white purer than snow, with an icy bearing and jade-like bones. Her dark hair fell to her waist, her curved brows were like distant green mountains, and her eyes shone like limpid autumn waters.

For all Lu Changsheng had seen and experienced in his previous life, none of those actresses could compare to her in the slightest.

Their bearing alone fell far short.

The woman stood motionless, yet Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi naturally flowed into her body, making her seem like a fairy, untainted by the mundane world.

No wonder even a male elder of the Ask Immortal Pavilion has become a simp.

However, Lu Changsheng had the Innate Dao Body and could easily suppress his emotions. After a single astonished glance, he quickly calmed down.

In just an instant, Lu Changsheng's expression became serene. "I am Lu Changsheng, a disciple of Taiyuan True Person. On the orders of my eldest senior brother, I have come to assist you all."

The female Dao Palace Realm cultivator from the Ask Immortal Pavilion was instead quietly startled.

For the first time, a male cultivator had met her and remained expressionless.

The man before her was no ordinary person.

That was her intuition.

The Dao Palace Realm elder of the Ask Immortal Pavilion's younger generation frowned. "Lu Changsheng? If I remember correctly, you seem to be the last personal disciple Taiyuan True Person took in, and you only entered the Nascent Soul Realm a hundred years ago. Could it be that you still haven't reached the Dao Palace Realm? This mission is no small matter. Don't drag us down."

It seemed his eldest senior brother had not yet told the Ask Immortal Pavilion that he had broken through to the Dao Palace Realm.

Or had his eldest senior brother deliberately concealed his cultivation?

After all, the less the other party knew of his true strength, the safer he was.

The Ask Immortal Pavilion was not Shushan, and Lu Changsheng might not trust them completely.

At that thought, Lu Changsheng deliberately sighed. "Alas, my cultivation is lacking. A hundred years passed in the snap of a finger, and I am only at the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul Realm now."

The Dao Palace Realm simp wore an expression that said he had expected as much. "In that case, after we enter Desolate Province, you can simply accompany our disciples."

"Luo Feng, don't be rude! Li Changye must have had a deeper purpose in arranging for Elder Lu to assist us."

Elder Kumu rebuked the Dao Palace Realm simp.

Li Changye was an elder of the younger generation whose name resounded throughout the six great righteous sects and the four great demonic sects.

After five hundred years of cultivation, Li Changye had already reached the ninth layer of the Dao Palace Realm. Elder Kumu, on the other hand, had cultivated for eight hundred years and was only at the fourth layer. He was not even sure he could reach the fifth layer in what remained of his life.

Elder Kumu practically worshipped Li Changye, who was younger than him yet had a higher cultivation. Someone Li Changye had sent had to be right for the task.

"Hmph. After cultivating for two hundred and fifty years, he's only at the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul Realm. He might never advance beyond it in his entire life. At his age, I had already entered the Dao Palace Realm. It seems Shushan isn't all that impressive either."

Luo Feng did not forget to belittle Lu Changsheng, using the opportunity to show off his own talent and attract the attention of the female Dao Palace Realm elder.

Pathetic. A simp keeps simping until he has nothing left.

Lu Changsheng muttered inwardly, paying Luo Feng no attention.

Lu Changsheng had seen plenty of people like him.

Elder Kumu coughed lightly twice. "These two are elders of our Ask Immortal Pavilion and also our pavilion master's two disciples, Luo Feng and Xia Ningxue."

"Hmph."

Luo Feng crossed his arms and snorted coldly.

The Dao Palace Realm elder named Xia Ningxue nodded in greeting.

The Ask Immortal Pavilion sent an elder at the fourth layer of the Dao Palace Realm, as well as two personal disciples of its pavilion master?!

Lu Changsheng surveyed the people present. Besides the three Dao Palace Realm experts, there were over twenty elders or inner disciples at the Nascent Soul and Golden Core Realms.

With the cultivation of these twenty-odd people, they were practically a nation-destroying squad.

The Ask Immortal Pavilion had sent such a lineup to the borderlands of Desolate Province this time. The matter was probably far from simple.

[Ding, the system is searching for a suitable apprentice candidate for you... one has been found.]

As Lu Changsheng pondered, the cold voice of the Apprentice-Teaching Simulator rang out in his sea of consciousness.

Oh? There's a suitable apprentice candidate nearby?

Lu Changsheng was taken aback again.

I've only just left Shushan, and I've already run into a suitable apprentice candidate?

[Ding, the apprentice candidate found by the system is named Xia Ningxue.]

Lu Changsheng froze.

Wait, that can't be right. Isn't she the personal disciple of the Ask Immortal Pavilion's master?

Am I supposed to poach her?

Lu Changsheng looked at Xia Ningxue, and the Apprentice-Teaching Simulator in his sea of consciousness burst forth with brilliant golden light. Her aptitude was no lower than his eldest senior brother's.

But how am I supposed to take someone like her as an apprentice?