Taking a Disciple, the Literary Sage Physique

Deep in the Bamboo Grove stood a solitary bamboo hut, the dwelling of an Ask Immortal Pavilion servant, as though forgotten by the world.

Lu Changsheng had received a notification from the disciple-teaching system that a suitable candidate for a disciple was nearby.

At first, Lu Changsheng had thought it would be another peerless genius from one of the major sects, but when he followed the system's directions here, he discovered otherwise.

Every major sect had a group of servants who handled various tedious chores and collected wages at the end of each month to support their families.

An Ask Immortal Pavilion servant lived in this bamboo hut, so how could there be a peerless genius here?

Lu Changsheng came to the well beside the hut and saw a young girl in plain cloth sitting on its rim, holding a book with yellowed pages and reading softly by moonlight.

Her brows were like willow leaves, her shoulders as if sculpted, her waist as slender as a silk ribbon, and her bearing as delicate as a secluded orchid. Though dressed in plain cloth, she could not conceal the refinement of a young lady from a distinguished family.

She read beneath the moon, while time passed in tranquil beauty.

Could she be the disciple the system had found?

Judging by her clothes, she was undoubtedly one of the Ask Immortal Pavilion's servants.

The girl's information appeared in Lu Changsheng's mind.

[Name: Mo Huazhi]

[Talents: Literary Sage Physique, bookworm, Water Spirit Root, Hounded by Misfortune]

[Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Realm First Layer]

[Dao Bone: 17 years]

"Literary Sage Physique?!"

Lu Changsheng was secretly astonished.

He had read about the Literary Sage Physique in the Record of Special Physiques Through the Ages, one of Shushan's texts.

The Literary Sage Physique had appeared three times, all of them in Crouching Dragon Temple.

According to the records, Yu Xuanji, the current Master of Crouching Dragon Temple, possessed the Literary Sage Physique.

When a Literary Sage cultivated to a profound realm, she could divine the workings of heaven and refine Dao talismans. It was said that at the peak, a Literary Sage could even make her words into law and prove her Dao through literature.

Who could have imagined that such a peerless genius was among the Ask Immortal Pavilion's servants?

However, this woman's fate was ill-starred, for she had a Misfortune Physique. Otherwise, with her aptitude, she would not have fallen so far as to become a servant on Misty Peak.

If Yu Xuanji, the Master of Crouching Dragon Temple, knew this woman also had the Literary Sage Physique, she would surely find a way to take her as a disciple.

"Y-you... who are you?"

Mo Huazhi had been so absorbed in reading beneath the moon that she only noticed Lu Changsheng when he came up beside her. Like a startled rabbit, she hurriedly put her book away behind her back.

She really was a bookworm.

Lu Changsheng thought back to his previous life. Even he had never managed to become so absorbed in his reading.

"Don't be afraid. I'm a good person."

Though Lu Changsheng said so, Mo Huazhi's eyes were still full of doubt.

Plenty of bad people said they were good people...

"I am Lu Changsheng, an elder of Shushan."

To gain her trust, Lu Changsheng had no choice but to introduce himself.

"L-Lu Changsheng...?" Mo Huazhi thought for a moment, and her expression gradually brightened with delight. "I've heard of you! You defeated our Ask Immortal Pavilion's Holy Maiden in the contest during the day. Word has spread all over Misty Peak!"

Oh?

Since she knew of his reputation, gaining her trust would be very simple.

"I can see that you have good Root Bones. Would you be willing to take me as your master and embark on the path of immortal cultivation? We have quite a few more books in Shushan than the Ask Immortal Pavilion does."

"The sea of books is vast. Even with a thousand years of life, I would struggle to read them all. As a mortal, the books you could read would be but a single grain in the boundless sea."

"Cultivate immortality with me, and you can gain eternal life."

Lu Changsheng had begun coaxing her into becoming his disciple.

She was a bookworm, so she would be easy to coax.

"Ah..."

Sure enough, Mo Huazhi was deeply tempted.

If she could cultivate the Dao of eternal life, she could read every book under heaven.

"But I've already signed a Contract with the Ask Immortal Pavilion. I have to be a servant on Misty Peak for the rest of my life."

At the thought of her fate, Mo Huazhi's expression fell again.

It seemed this disciple had a story.

If Mo Huazhi were a female disciple of the Ask Immortal Pavilion, things would be rather tricky, but she was only a servant.

Lu Changsheng had some acquaintance with Xia Ningxue. When the time came, he could swallow his pride and ask her for a servant. It would not be a problem.

"As long as you take me as your master and become my third disciple, I have a way to get the Ask Immortal Pavilion to set you free. From now on, you will be a disciple of Shushan."

"Really?"

Mo Huazhi's eyes filled with delight and curiosity.

"Really."

Lu Changsheng was worried that Yu Xuanji of Crouching Dragon Temple might discover this disciple, so the right move was to hurry and coax her into accepting him as her master.

Yu Xuanji could divine the workings of heaven and was highly likely to discover Mo Huazhi's existence.

"Master, please accept your disciple Mo Huazhi's bow."

Mo Huazhi knew this was an opportunity to encounter immortality. She put away her book, straightened her plain clothes, and respectfully performed the rites of a disciple before Lu Changsheng.

"Very good. From now on, you are my disciple. I will come for you tomorrow, and you will accompany me to visit Fairy Xia of the Ask Immortal Pavilion and get your Contract back."

"Visit the Holy Maiden?"

Mo Huazhi stared at him in disbelief.

As expected of a great figure from Shushan, her master could actually meet the Ask Immortal Pavilion's Holy Maiden directly.

As an Ask Immortal Pavilion servant responsible for tending this Bamboo Grove, she rarely even saw an inner disciple, let alone the Holy Maiden herself.

But why would such a great figure take a lowly servant like her as his disciple?

Sensing Mo Huazhi's doubts, Lu Changsheng said unhurriedly, "Only when there is a Bole can a thousand-li steed be recognized. You are a peerless genius. There is no need to doubt your aptitude. Cultivate and read in peace under my tutelage, and one day, even becoming a sage will not be impossible."

Become a sage?

Mo Huazhi had never dared imagine such a thing. She merely wanted to read to her heart's content.

"Judging by your bearing, you are no ordinary servant. Would you be willing to tell me about your family background?"

"Yes. I was born the daughter of a great scholar of the Yue Kingdom. My grandfather once served as Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. Later, someone falsely accused our family, and we were implicated in the chancellor's rebellion. All nine branches of our family were condemned. To protect me, my father had a servant send me to the Ask Immortal Pavilion. Although I became a servant here, that was still better than being executed after the autumn assizes. I was only five at the time. Fortunately, the Ask Immortal Pavilion has many texts, and even a servant can read some of them. I don't find tending the Bamboo Grove a hardship."

As Mo Huazhi spoke of her past, a trace of pain appeared in her eyes, but she soon came to terms with it.

This disciple really was "Hounded by Misfortune." At five, her family had been destroyed, and she had been sold to the Ask Immortal Pavilion to seek refuge.

Otherwise, with Mo Huazhi's Literary Sage Physique and her birth into a great scholar's family, she would already have attained a certain level of cultivation. She could have become an Ask Immortal Pavilion disciple, or even an elder, and would never have been merely a servant.

Yet it was precisely because Mo Huazhi's fate was "Hounded by Misfortune" that she had become a pearl lost in the vast sea. Otherwise, Lu Changsheng might not have had the chance to find such a treasure.

Her outlook was quite good, too. Even after her family had been destroyed, she did not wallow in self-pity.

I have the system and can simulate a disciple's entire life. That's enough to defy heaven and change her fate, and help her become a sage. I can profit from it as well.

Lu Changsheng did not mind that Mo Huazhi was "Hounded by Misfortune."

With the disciple-teaching system in hand, Lu Changsheng had ways to turn danger into safety, as long as it was not a calamity like a heavenly tribulation.

"Go back and rest. I'll come for you tomorrow morning."

Lu Changsheng was in no hurry to use Transmission Empowerment on his new disciple. Instead, he decided to visit Xia Ningxue the next day.

With a thought, Lu Changsheng shrank the ground to an inch and vanished from where he stood.

"Your disciple..."

Before Mo Huazhi could bid him farewell, Lu Changsheng had already left.

"Am I dreaming?"

Mo Huazhi pinched her cheek, still feeling as though it were all a dream of Nanke.

To servants like her, a Shushan elder was undoubtedly an immortal.

Yet an immortal had actually taken her as a disciple.

Was there something special about her?

"Maybe I should go to sleep."

Mo Huazhi looked at the empty Bamboo Grove. Aside from a wash of moonlight, there was no one there, and she still felt as though she were dreaming.

The next day, Mo Huazhi awoke to find everything as usual.

It seems I really was dreaming last night. I mustn't read so late again. I read until I started hallucinating.

Mo Huazhi shook her head, picked up a wooden bucket, and went to draw water from the well, beginning another day as a servant.

Suddenly, a sword came flying from the west and landed in the Bamboo Grove.

Two people had arrived.

One was a handsome, long-haired man with an immortal bearing and Dao Bones. The other was a girl of twelve or thirteen, who was staring at her curiously, sizing her up and down.

"Elder Lu... no, Master?"

Mo Huazhi, who was drawing water by the well, was greatly shocked. Lu Changsheng had really come!

She had not been dreaming last night!

"Come with me to the Cloud Dream Pavilion on Misty Peak."

Lu Changsheng smiled faintly. He had so easily gained a disciple with the Literary Sage Physique, and the more he looked at her, the more satisfied he became.

The Cloud Dream Pavilion was one of Misty Peak's 480 pavilions, and also the cultivation abode of the Holy Maiden, Xia Ningxue.

Lu Changsheng had brought his two disciples to visit and redeem his newly accepted young disciple's freedom.

"Holy Maiden, Lu Changsheng of Shushan requests an audience."

In the clear pool of the Cloud Dream Pavilion, Xia Ningxue soaked in the water, her dark hair falling over her shoulders and her skin as smooth as congealed cream amid curling mist.

After the contest, Xia Ningxue had recovered quickly thanks to her physique.

"What is he doing here?"

Xia Ningxue was somewhat surprised. What had Lu Changsheng come to see her about at this hour?

"Holy Maiden, will you see him?"

"Hmm... bring him to me."

Xia Ningxue sank halfway into the pool, her cheeks slightly flushed from the water's warmth.

Come to think of it, what exactly did Lu Changsheng want with her?