Uncle-Master?
Not only Zhang Shun, but Xiao Ran was also completely dumbfounded.
He only then recalled the theoretical knowledge he had painstakingly gathered back then through numerous inquiries, thinking he would never need it again.
It concerned seniority.
The Cultivation World was strictly stratified where strength reigned supreme. When strangers met, seniors and juniors were usually determined by power.
Within a cultivation sect, however, seniority was not based on cultivation level, but on status.
Generally speaking, a sect was divided into three tiers.
The sect master and elders formed the top tier, representing the apex of the sect.
The direct disciples of the sect master and elders, along with ordinary instructors, formed the middle tier, representing the core.
Inner and outer sect disciples, including outer sect instructors, all made up the bottom tier of the sect.
In other words, Xiao Ran, a direct disciple to an elder, was to ordinary outer sect disciple Zhang Shun—and even to outer sect instructor Lin Yunzi—their...
Senior.
So-called outer sect disciples were, to put it bluntly, handymen. Throughout their lives, those who managed to reach Qi Refining could be counted on one hand.
Even Lin Yunzi, who had started practicing Qi in his twilight years and held the prestigious title of outer sect instructor, lacked the qualifications to step into the inner sect.
Since Xiao Ran had been chosen as a direct disciple and had yet to begin Qi Refining, he was bound to have plenty of time interacting with the outer sect.
How could Lin Yunzi let slip this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
Smack! Dragging a withered arm like dry firewood, he brought a palm down squarely on the back of Zhang Shun's head, moving with a vigor that didn't look like an old man at all.
"What are you standing there frozen for? Hurry up and greet your Uncle-Master!"
One slap snapped the dreamer out of his trance...
Zhang Shun recovered his wits from his daze and abruptly realized: You motherfucker aren't even a fellow senior brother, you're actually an Uncle-Master! Even the old instructor is calling him Uncle-Master, what else can he possibly do?
"Un... Uncle-Master."
Lin Yunzi struck him across the head once more.
"State your name!"
Looking ashen-faced and utterly flustered, Zhang Shun shouted in a deep voice:
"Disc... disciple Zhang Shun... pays his respects to Uncle-Master Xiao."
Xiao Ran gave a slight nod, having no intention of continuing to slap faces.
How could he not know that the reason Zhang Shun had dared to stand tall and refuse to bend his back before him wasn't solely due to the relaxed rules of the sect?
Zhang Shun knew his own status fell far below Xiao Ran's, and figured the latter wouldn't stoop to bickering with him.
Given a direct disciple's standing, to quibble with a handyman disciple—wouldn't that make him a laughingstock to the entire sect?
At the pinnacle of the sword, looking down upon the world, with me the sword immortal there is the heavens; we cultivators respect no ghosts or gods, and kneel to no Heavenly Dao...
Yet in front of a head-instructor, one still submits in a split second.
The Heavenly Dao wouldn't bicker with you, but an instructor could genuinely make you kneel.
Li Yunlong feared not even the Jade Emperor himself, yet upon meeting the brigade commander, he still had to bow and scrape.
You might donate a million to the country, but you'd refuse to donate a single cow—because you genuinely owned a cow.
And right now, Lin Yunzi—the outer sect instructor who could reduce Zhang Shun to instant submission—was yielding to Xiao Ran in the span of a heartbeat.
His spine could simply no longer stiffen.
Xiao Ran could also tell that Lin Yunzi was intentionally promoting and shielding this taskmaster, urging him to apologize swiftly so as not to ruin his future prospects.
If it were anyone else, encountering such a fool who showed disrespect to a direct disciple, they would have fled as far as possible to avoid him.
"Now that Uncle-Master has condescended to visit this place, what instructions do you have for us?"
Xiao Ran glanced at the tall, thin, and energetic old man.
"Instructions are hardly the word. I wish to build a set of disciple quarters on Sword-Wielding Mountain, preferably crafted from fine bamboo and timber..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Yunzi immediately replied:
"Understood. Disciple will make arrangements right away, and will have the timber and bamboo delivered to Sword-Wielding Mountain shortly for the handymen to construct the buildings."
Xiao Ran shook his head.
"No, Master is resting. I wish to pre-assemble the house right here, and then transport it to the summit to lay the foundations."
Lin Yunzi buttered up to him, saying:
"With Uncle-Master showing such filial piety, Elder will surely cherish you dearly."
Noncommittal, Xiao Ran instead focused his mind to open the system shop, locating the max level architecture skill.
Life Skill: Max Level Architecture — This skill will consume 3 Filial Piety Points from the host. Confirm purchase?
"Confirm."
Congratulations to the host for acquiring the life skill: Max Level Architecture!
Xiao Ran's mind buzzed as he experienced an instant sublimation.
His head was filled with professional architectural concepts such as feng shui spiritual meridians, wood and stone materials, and load-bearing structures—all mastered and elevated to the pinnacle of perfection.
His Sea of Consciousness was as clear as a starlit sky.
Instinctively, he glanced at the stone building covered in creeping vines.
Although this location was situated at the tail end of Zongzhi Mountain's spiritual meridian, and the stone building's materials were of top quality, its design structure was truly too poor, failing to absorb much of the spiritual meridian's energy.
On the other hand, Master's thatched cottage, while seemingly crude, was exceptionally well-situated. Coupled with a special formation, it could be called top-grade—no wonder Master had told him to model the disciple quarters after the cottage...
However, Master's thatched cottage still had room for improvement, particularly in terms of comfort and convenience.
This was also one of the driving forces behind Xiao Ran building the disciple quarters.
Elsewhere.
Lin Yunzi quickly tracked down twelve of the strongest handymen, delegating the logging task and demanding they gather all building materials within a single hour without fail.
Zhang Shun was among them.
Though feeling somewhat resentful inside, upon seeing that Xiao Ran bore no haughty attitude and made no move to retaliate against him, he suddenly felt rather petty and small-minded.
He accepted the order sullenly, turned around, and led the group deep into the forest...
Xiao Ran arrived at the main hall of the outer sect administration office.
Having Lin Yunzi fetch brush and paper, he began sketching the blueprints for the disciple quarters.
A two-story structure, two bedrooms, two living rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and some furniture on top of that...
His brush flew across the paper like cursive script, yet the resulting drawing was as neat and clear as a printed structural diagram.
While the overall design seemed complex in structure, it simultaneously embodied a certain ineffable beauty and Daoist charm.
Standing to the side, Lin Yunzi would occasionally halt to gaze intently, or pace back and forth in deep thought.
He possessed a certain proficiency in architecture, having led the handyman disciples in constructing many of the sect's buildings.
As he carefully pondered Xiao Ran's design, he praised the grand structure with clicks of his tongue, while finding the details profound and beyond his comprehension.
Particularly the eight cleverly designed detachable foundations, which forcefully gathered the spiritual meridian with breathtaking ingenuity...
After prolonged thought, Lin Yunzi was suddenly struck with a flash of enlightenment, as if comprehending the Great Dao.
He became completely immersed in shock, to the point that he even forgot such an important matter as taking the opportunity to flatter him.
After staring at Xiao Ran for a long time, he arrived at a conclusion—
The Sword-Wielding Elder choosing him as a direct disciple was by no means a coincidence!
Not long after.
To be precise, in less than an hour.
The logging team returned fully laden.
The plaza before the stone building was piled high with astonishingly sized yellow sandalwood, ebony, purple elm, and Zongzhi Mountain's specialty, blue bamboo.
Though these materials were unranked mortal goods, they were all precious and costly varieties.
Moreover, they were much larger than their mortal-realm counterparts and possessed superior textures; if placed on his past-life Earth, they wouldn't go for less than tens of millions.
Xiao Ran cupped his fists in a salute.
"Many thanks, everyone."
Next came the actual construction.
Having expended too much energy on Master, Xiao Ran lacked the strength to build it personally and would have to rely on these handyman disciples.
He produced the completed construction blueprints.
"These are the blueprints for the disciple quarters, with all details duly noted. If we pre-assemble the house right here and transport it up the mountain before dark, can you all manage it?"
Hearing this, Zhang Shun caught the enthusiasm as well, stepping forward to lead the other handymen in a collective reply:
"We will strictly obey Uncle-Master's instructions!"
Under Lin Yunzi's direction, the group set to work removing branches, stripping bark, sawing trunks, planing wood, and cutting mortises—moving at a rapid, orderly pace that looked thoroughly professional.
After all, most of the buildings within the sect were the handiwork of these very people.
Xiao Ran couldn't help marveling at how youthful, vigorous, and full of drive these handyman disciples truly were.
There were no difficult jobs, only brave labo—handymen!By dusk.
The setting sun dyed the mountain ranges in hues of crimson.
A handsome two-story disciple quarters rose from flat ground right in the plaza.
Although it was an unpainted, pure-wood structure, it exuded an exquisite aura of flying eaves, painted beams, and carved pillars.
At the same time, it stood ruggedly upright and imposing as if crafted by divine artistry through supernatural carving, instilling an impact of the Great Dao being simple yet profound!
Especially when the roof was draped in the afterglow of the setting sun...
It was breathtaking.
All the handyman disciples stared in blank amazement. Did I really create this with my own hands?
Looking back at Xiao Ran, everyone's gaze had changed.
A direct disciple was never born of mere coincidence!
Nor did Xiao Ran intend to freeload off the handyman disciples' labor, so he retrieved a spirit stone from his system storage compartment.
During his admission procedures, he had specifically requested his welcoming senior brother to take his spirit stone out of his space ring, tuck it into his robes, and keep it on hand for emergencies.
After awakening the system, he had placed both the spirit stone and the space ring into his storage compartment.
He tossed the spirit stone to the group of handyman disciples, saying to them: "Many thanks, everyone. This spirit stone is hard-earned money for you all."
In the Dharma Ending Era, spirit stones were worth a fortune.
In a prestigious sect like Zongzhi Mountain, an inner-sect disciple's monthly stipend was only a single spirit stone, while the handymen's salaries consisted merely of silver coins.
Rarely ever laying eyes on an entire spirit stone, the handymen's eyes lit up, their minds solely preoccupied with how to carve it up; how could there be any thought of refusal?
"Many thanks, Uncle-Master!"
Too blind to watch, Lin Yunzi hastily shouted: "Absurd!"
Yet Xiao Ran stopped him, knowing full well that mutual benefit formed the foundation of lasting cooperation.
Consequently, he retrieved two more spirit stones from the system storage compartment.
"These two spirit stones are for you."
Refusing to accept unearned rewards, Lin Yunzi dared not take them.
"What virtue or ability does this disciple possess..."
Xiao Ran smiled.
"I still need you to help me transport the house to Sword-Wielding Mountain."
"Even so, this reward is far too generous."
"I still require some time for Qi Refining, and traveling up and down the mountain is inconvenient, so..."
Before Xiao Ran could finish, Lin Yunzi produced a black iron ring-clasp from his space ring.
"Uncle-Master might still need this."
Xiao Ran was slightly startled, thinking it looked rather like a similar ring he had seen in European and American adult films.
"What is this?"
Lin Yunzi explained:
"This is a blood-dripped clasp capable of opening a space ring. Its spiritual power will be exhausted after only a few uses, so Uncle-Master must use it sparingly."
Amidst his astonishment, Xiao Ran thought to himself that he could now transfer the spirit sword and other items from his space ring into the system space, allowing him to retrieve them at any time.
"Thoughtful of you."
Lin Yunzi smiled with narrowed eyes.
"It is only right."
Following the manipulation method taught by Lin Yunzi, Xiao Ran withdrew a talisman, bit the tip of his finger, and let a drop of blood merge into the spiritual runes.
Within moments, upon touching blood, the talisman expanded, swelling against the wind to transform in the blink of an eye into a massive, bright-yellow paper kite.
Immediately thereafter, twelve muscular Body Tempering Realm handymen pooled their strength together, lifting the house right up onto the paper kite.
Sure enough, the spirit stone's buff to the handyman disciples' physical strength was formidable.
Cupping his hands in a farewell salute, Lin Yunzi said: "Since Elder Lingzhou is resting, this disciple will not disturb her."
"—"
You're not going to see me off? Xiao Ran suddenly panicked a little.
Hesitating for a moment, he had no choice but to boldly step onto the paper kite, cross-legged in front of the house, and begin using his bloodline connection to remote-pilot the flight of the paper kite.
With a creaking groan...
The paper kite swayed unsteadily into the air, soaring between the mountain ranges and the setting sun toward Sword-Wielding Mountain.
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