An Unexpected Revelation

"Immortal Master!" Zhao Ming bowed with utmost respect.

"Mm." Lin Xuan nodded, looking utterly unconcerned. "How has the Waste Pill Room been these past days?"

"Rest assured, everything is as usual."

Nearly four months after becoming the manager of the Waste Pill Room, Lin Xuan finally inspected his territory once more. The boys led by Zhao Ming were somewhat surprised, but they still attended to him respectfully and cautiously.

To make his cultivation more convenient, Lin Xuan had deliberately established an image before them of someone sleepy, lazy, withdrawn, and fond of shutting himself alone in his room.

His original intention had merely been to cultivate without arousing suspicion or being disturbed. Yet, like planting willows without intending shade, this fabricated personality instead won Lin Xuan the boys' wholehearted support.

The reason was simple. To cultivators who stood high above, Mortals were ants. Thus, within Floating Cloud Valley, these boys held very low status. Put nicely, they were outer sect disciples; put bluntly, they were servants and laborers, specifically assigned to menial work and attending cultivators. If they did even slightly poorly, they might be cursed and beaten at best, or lose their lives at worst. Such things were commonplace, and no one would ever inquire into them.

The boys lived every day as though treading on thin ice, trembling with fear. It was tolerable if their immediate superior was a mild-tempered cultivator, but if he was someone mercurial and unpredictable, it was simply...

Take Danxia Mountain's various chores, for instance. Of all the positions in charge of such duties, the one cultivators least wished to manage was the Waste Pill Room, since there was no profit to be had. Yet the opposite was true for the boys. It was the place they longed for most, because for a long time, no cultivator had been assigned there. Zhao Ming, who temporarily served as manager, was an outer sect disciple just like them. Life there was not only leisurely, but safe.

When Lin Xuan had first arrived, Zhao Ming and the others said nothing and dared not show it on their faces, but in their hearts they had been utterly unwilling. They believed their good days had come to an end.

Yet things turned out differently from what they had imagined. Lin Xuan had indeed arrived, but months could pass before he showed his face even once. This Immortal Master was extremely solitary and enjoyed locking himself in his room.

In other words, Lin Xuan's arrival had not changed their previous lives in the slightest. Several months had passed without a single person being punished—provided, of course, that they did not violate the Immortal Master's rules by approaching his living quarters.

Such an excellent manager, such an easy Immortal Master to serve, was simply a once-in-a-thousand-years rarity. Zhao Ming and the others supported Lin Xuan from the bottom of their hearts and wished he could remain the manager of the Waste Pill Room forever. With him there, the sect would not send another cultivator over.

After inspecting the Waste Pill Room and chatting about a few inconsequential matters, Lin Xuan instructed the boys to work properly, saying that he wished to go out for a walk and get some fresh air.

"Farewell, Immortal Master!"

Zhao Ming and the others did not doubt him in the least. Though their manager was lazy and disliked moving around, it was only natural for him to go out once in a while. No one could enjoy staying indoors forever.

Once he had left everyone's sight and reached an unoccupied place, the lazy air around Lin Xuan vanished without a trace. He now appeared shrewd and mature, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing at the corner of his lips as he headed outside.

Over the past few days, Lin Xuan had considered many things and weighed every possible method, yet he still could not think of a way to successfully learn the Spirit Control Technique without arousing suspicion. A solution that could have the best of both worlds truly seemed nonexistent.

Empty speculation could not solve the problem. Rather than sit gloomily indoors and rack his brains, he might as well go out, adapt to circumstances, and see whether a turning point might emerge.

After leaving Danxia Mountain, Lin Xuan's bearing changed again, becoming ordinary and unremarkable. He first wandered around the sect without finding anything, then headed toward the Library Pavilion.

As a low-level disciple in the Spirit Movement Stage, he was only free to enter the first floor. Though he knew perfectly well that there were no cultivation techniques here, only miscellaneous knowledge that was precious to Mortals but as useless as chicken ribs to cultivators, Lin Xuan still held onto a sliver of hope and carefully searched the entire first floor.

He found nothing!

After standing silently for a while, Lin Xuan gritted his teeth and headed toward the second floor.

Unlike buildings in the mortal world, there were no stairs between the first and second floors. Layer upon layer of Restrictions had also been laid down, making it impossible to fly up. The only means of entering and leaving was the Teleportation Array.

Lin Xuan had only taken a few steps when the air ahead rippled like water. A yellow barrier appeared before him like a wall.

This was a Restriction. To reach the Teleportation Array, he first had to break it. It was also a test, because according to the sect's design, breaking this Restriction required at least the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. This ensured that no low-level disciples could enter the second floor—except, naturally, those who applied to the sect leader and received permission.

Looking at the yellow light before him, Lin Xuan stopped and silently observed it. Though by all reason this Restriction required Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation to break, he actually had some confidence.

First, he had learned the Ice Needle Technique, whose power rivaled that of high-level Spells. Second, he possessed an extraordinarily powerful Spirit Tool. If he went all out, he could not claim much else, but at least in terms of offensive power, Lin Xuan was confident he was no weaker than a cultivator who had only just entered the Foundation Establishment Realm and possessed no Spirit Tool.

Yet Lin Xuan did not make a move. After hesitating briefly, he instead walked away as if nothing had happened. Whether it was the Ice Needle Technique or his Spirit Tool, both were too startling. Lin Xuan had no desire to attract attention.

Besides, even if he broke this Restriction and used the Teleportation Array to reach the second floor, there would certainly be other Restrictions before he could read the books.

Though he wished to learn the Spirit Control Technique, after weighing the pros and cons, he could not expose his strength. Thus, Lin Xuan chose not to startle the snake in the grass.

It seemed he would have to think of another method. Having made that decision, Lin Xuan turned to leave. Yet just then, a conversation reached his ears.

"I heard Lingyun Sect is being forced to disband."

"Hmph. Who told them to offend a senior expert in the Core Condensation Realm? Unless they all want to die, disbanding the sect is their only path."

The cultivator ahead nodded and said with some regret, "Though Lingyun Sect cannot compare to our Floating Cloud Valley, it is still a sect with nearly a thousand years of heritage. It must have quite a few cultivation techniques, Spirit Tools, and Talismans."

"Indeed. I heard that quite a few mid-level cultivation techniques, the kind only used in the Foundation Establishment Realm, are being sold as well."