Returning from East Floating City after buying wine, Lingzhou Yue swayed gracefully on the wind, floating drunkenly in the skies above Zongzhi Mountain.
Not that she was truly drunk.
Today, she had used disguise to visit a newly opened gambling house. While drinking and gambling, someone had slipped poison into her wine.
Thus, the establishment was gone, and she had earned a fair amount of silver.
Fishing law enforcement complete victory! The disguise had not gone to waste.
The sole side effect was that the poison packed quite a punch, making one feel as though they were ascending to immortality, entirely unable to distinguish the four cardinal directions.
An ordinary person poisoned thus would have long since perished completely.
Yet she had grown addicted, actually reluctant to expend spiritual energy to purge it, and had floated all the way back to Zongzhi Mountain in this hazy state.
The night air was alluring.
The moment she returned to the mountain, she caught the scent of meat drifting from afar.
This meaty aroma seemed utterly unremarkable at first glance, merely the roasted fragrance of unranked tiger meat, yet once it entered the body, it felt as though every single cell within had transformed into a taste bud.
Compared to it.
The high-grade hallucinogenic poison residing in her body actually seemed somewhat bland and tasteless.
Such fragrance should only exist in the heavens; how could she possibly miss out on celestial tiger meat of this caliber?
However, she was a dignified Sword-Wielding Elder and a mighty Spirit Severing Realm expert. Drinking was one thing, but if she were discovered eating commoner's roasted meat, it would become a laughingstock.
Consequently, her instincts prompted a flash of inspiration.
Would it not be wonderful to use her status as an elder to intimidate the person roasting the tiger below, confiscating the evidence of their crime under the guise of them turning themselves in, and claiming it for her own?
Until she heard the voice of her precious disciple.
Oh, this mountain was opened by me...
Never mind, then.
Floating in a daze around Zongzhi Mountain, she wanted to see what kind of commotion her precious disciples were up to.
The bamboo forest, the hot spring, the orchard, the vegetable plot, the valley, the pool, the maple forest, the cherry blossoms, and a small sword plaza...
This small sword plaza looked vaguely familiar from somewhere.
She could not remember, either.
Floating down in a daze, she landed precisely half a zhang away from the roasted tiger.
Opposite the roasted tiger.
Xiao Ran glanced at his master.
A translucent green robe draped over her undulating, divinely sculpted figure. Her painterly brows appeared slightly misty, yet still carried an awe-inspiring sword Qi.
Her gait swayed, rustling like the wind. She looked as though she had drunk fake wine unlike her usual brews—clearly the poisonous kind, yet she herself seemed quite to enjoy it.
He could hardly say anything.
Lingzhou Yue's gaze was fixed entirely upon the tiger meat, completely failing to notice the petite figure hidden by the firelight at Xiao Ran's side.
"Profound Yin Divine Beast... where did you find this tiger meat?"
Before Xiao Ran could reply, Jiang Chuyan hurriedly stepped around the tiger carcass, supporting Lingzhou Yue's swaying body illuminated by the firelight, and spoke with lingering affection yet boundless grievance:
"Elder Lingzhou, do you still remember Jiang Chuyan of Little Qiong Peak?"
Though Lingzhou Yue was hazy, the mere mention of the three words Jiang Chuyan brought back memories of some year, some month, beneath some flowers, of a certain willow-soft, slender waist...
"Oh, it's that waist!"
Amidst the flickering firelight, Chuyan raised her exquisitely peerless little face.
"Has the elder truly never thought of taking responsibility for Chuyan?"
Upon hearing this, Lingzhou Yue shuddered and gave a sudden start, hastily shaking off the young girl's support. The motion caused her figure to sway with undulating waves, startling her so much that the poisonous wine sobered up by a fraction.
This little lass was formidable! She had touched her waist only once, yet the girl had developed romantic feelings and constantly pestered her to become Dao companions! It was fine for women to play around with each other, but becoming Dao companions—was that not sheer nonsense?
After being ruthlessly rejected by her, the new Dao Alliance regulations had come out, and now the girl wanted to become her direct disciple.
Lingzhou Yue was naturally easy-going by nature, and in this life she feared persistent and stubborn people above all else.
Moreover, Jiang Chuyan's natural talent was simply too high; she mastered any cultivation method the moment she learned it. If word got out, people would assume she excelled at teaching others, and the Dao Alliance would likely dump a dozen more direct disciples onto her.
"Does one have to take responsibility just for touching a waist? I even let my disciple touch my leg yesterday, so why haven't I been told to take responsibility for him? If you can't stand it, I'll let you touch mine and we'll call it even."
The elder's waist...
Chuyan froze in shock, her fingers actually itching somewhat, yet her little face assumed an expression of utmost grievance as she said, "The elder already has one disciple, so why not have one more with me? Look, with my help, Junior Brother Xiao transformed Sword-Wielding Mountain into this in just a few hours, and this Profound Yin Red Spotted Tiger is also an offering of filial piety from your disciple... Won't you try a bite?"
Lingzhou Yue nearly forgot her proper business.
"Who in the realm of cultivation even eats meat? Cough, cough... I'll have a taste first."
Tearing off a piece of semi-charred tiger meat, she gently placed it in her mouth. Deliciousness rippled across her oral cavity like waves, as though every cell in her body had been transformed into a taste bud.
Traces of warm current slowly rose from her Dantian Qi Sea, stirring a single ripple. The ripple gradually expanded, transforming in the blink of an eye into a tsunami that furiously scoured the inner walls of her Dantian...
Nearby.
Xiao Ran turned the roasting tiger meat, utterly indifferent to his master and Chuyan's romantic little melodrama. Content to play the role of a lightbulb, he silently collected filial piety points.
Congratulations to the host for acquiring 1 Filial Piety Point!
Congratulations to the host for acquiring 1 Filial Piety Point!
Congratulations to the host for acquiring 1 Filial Piety Point!
Lingzhou Yue knitted her sword-like brows slightly.
She thought to herself that if this were a Red Spotted Tiger of the same cultivation realm as her, a single piece of meat might very well cause her to break through and advance a stage... though she had no wish to advance.
Then looking at Xiao Ran reflected in the flickering firelight, today her disciple seemed to have grown even more handsome.
"You also know how to cook?"
Xiao Ran gave a symbolic nod.
"I know a little bit."
A little bit?
Lingzhou Yue chewed slowly, seemingly tasting something else within the tiger meat.
"This tiger meat first underwent palm-strike resonance, and then suffered sword-strike resonance... You killed a Red Spotted Tiger approaching Qi Refining strength in just two moves?"
Even that could be discerned?
Thinking deeply and finding it somewhat alarming, Xiao Ran replied calmly:
"Master has sharp eyes."
Lingzhou Yue frowned slightly... Could a mere Art of Resonance possess such power? Seeing that the Sword-Wielding Elder's eyes were filled entirely with Xiao Ran, Chuyan's jealousy flared up instantly, and she hurried to say: "But this is my pet, which was originally meant to be given to the Sword-Wielding Elder!"
Yet Lingzhou Yue showed no appreciation whatsoever.
"This pet of yours nearly ate my precious disciple. Besides, how can a pet be casually given away?"
Chuyan was on the verge of tears, stamping her feet in grievance, her slender lower legs catching the eye.
"Just what must this disciple do to win the Sword-Wielding Elder's approval?"
Lingzhou Yue tore off another piece of tiger meat and devoured it in large bites.
"You have a taste too, so I can observe your talent."
Chuyan felt somewhat reluctant, but for the sake of the Sword-Wielding Elder, she gritted her teeth and took a bite.
Her pupils abruptly halted! This deliciousness... these ripples... this warm current...
She even suspected that if this were a high-grade spirit tiger, the delicious ripples would surely gradually expand within her Qi Sea, subsequently turning into a tsunami that impacted the inner walls of her Dantian, pushing her straight to a certain critical threshold where she might break through to the Nascent Soul realm right then and there! Without even looking at her talent, Lingzhou Yue declared, "Very well, you have already won my approval. Your natural talent is high enough, and your appearance is cute enough, but your only mistake is that your talent is simply too high. Eating a mouthful of tiger meat nearly makes you advance a stage—how would that highlight my teaching standard?"
"This..."
For the first time hearing such logic, Chuyan was left gaping and speechless.
Lingzhou Yue added, "Furthermore, you are far too clingy. Your motive for coming up the mountain is impure; you covet my body."
Chuyan instantly blushed, lowering her head under the flickering firelight, and spoke in a soft murmur: "This subordinate's heart holds only adoration."
Lingzhou Yue downed a gulp of poisonous wine, her face neither red nor her heart beating.
"Adoration is the distance furthest removed from understanding."
Chuyan was dumbfounded.
Unable to squeeze out tears, her little face bloated, she was left without a word to say...
Xiao Ran simply watched the show, casually tasting a bit of the tiger meat as well.
The flavor was indeed defying the heavens, but his Balanced Five-Endowment waste spiritual roots remained unmoving. No matter how the ripples expanded and washed over them, there was not the slightest reaction.
Feeling stifled inside, Chuyan joined in by eating the tiger meat in large mouthfuls.
She sobbed as she ate, her tears flowing without stop.
In her heart, she felt Xiao Hong had died unjustly, yet her body was once again stimulated beyond restraint by the aroma of Xiao Hong's meat...
Suddenly!
She remembered something! Staring straight at Xiao Ran, her gaze was soft, helpless, aggrieved, and seemed to carry a certain pressure as it shifted toward Xiao Ran's lower body.
Xiao Ran felt a chill in his lower regions, recalling the promise he had previously made to help Chuyan.
The purer a woman was, the easier it was for her to turn yandere after being hurt. If he didn't help her today, there was no telling when this little lass might genuinely ambush his lower body.
She remained the main pillar for Disciple Challenges, and her Golden Core cultivation was currently unbeatable to him. Offending her would cause massive trouble.
Moreover, she possessed astonishing hand speed and excelled at micro-manipulation. She was an essential farming tool for home and travel, a human tool for earning filial piety points.
Keeping her on Sword-Wielding Mountain would help him become a powerhouse at the fastest possible speed.
Yet if he helped her, his master was extremely resistant to taking on disciples...
What should he do?
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Xiao Ran.
"Master, I'd like to take on a disciple."
Before you continue