The Moon Tonight... Is So Round

Self-created Cultivation Method?

Lingzhou Yue was slightly startled, her heart rippling, unable to find peace for a long time.

One day to comprehend the Art of Resonance, two days to slay a Red Spotted Tiger with a sword, three days to reach Qi Refining in the heat of battle, five days to create a self-made Cultivation Method...

If you were given ten years, wouldn't you end up saving the Dharma Ending Era? Could this be the talent of a god? Lingzhou Yue realized that this was the second time in her life she had been ruthlessly crushed in terms of talent.

Compared to the last time, where they were like two brilliant gems of equal worth, the gap this time was far wider; it was impossible to compete, only to look up in awe.

Fortunately, this "godly" figure happened to be her precious disciple, giving her a rare sense of satisfaction in nurturing and playing with her creation.

Smoothing the sudden ripples across her chest, Lingzhou Yue extended a jade arm, lazily propping up her cheek, and asked softly, "You've only just reached Qi Refining, yet you can already create a Cultivation Method?"

Xiao Ran had been prepared for this and replied unhurriedly:

"The Jade Maiden Heart Sutra was adapted based on the Art of Resonance created by Master, so I ask for Master's guidance."

Lingzhou Yue thought to herself that the Art of Resonance was not actually created by her, and Xiao Ran's attainment in Cultivation Methods far exceeded her own; it would be embarrassing if she gave the wrong advice.

She scolded him instead:

"Adapting is not just messing around. Heaven Tier Cultivation Methods are nearly immortal arts; there is no room for adaptation. Instead of wasting effort modifying a Heaven Tier Cultivation Method, you might as well create an entirely new one. There is no need for your Master to guide you; I believe in your ability."

Xiao Ran laughed:

"Master, why are you a bit nervous? Could it be that you are unable to guide your disciple?"

Lingzhou Yue's body tensed, losing the lazy facade she had just worn, and she snapped:

"What is there for me to be nervous about? I'll just see what kind of nonsense you're up to!"

"I ask Master to—"

"What was it called again? The Jade Maiden Heart Sutra?"

"Yes."

"It doesn't sound like a proper Cultivation Method at all. Are you trying to pick up girls? That is your Master's specialty; I shall guide you in it... cough cough, how exactly do you want me to guide you?"

Xiao Ran suppressed a smile and extended both palms, reaching into the mist.

"Just palm-to-palm contact will do."

"Are you that reserved? You're too young, you know."

Lingzhou Yue lazily raised her jade arm, pressing her palms against his.

Her frame was large and her fingers slender; she was considered quite large for a woman, and True Person Yinyue had often been teased by this very hand in the past.

But Xiao Ran's hands were clearly a size larger than hers. Her "big white hands," which had committed so many misdeeds in the past, suddenly looked delicate and frail.

This pair of wicked hands, which had once wantonly teased her Master, now felt the shock of being teased by her disciple in return.

Good and evil have their rewards, the Heavenly Dao is a cycle; just look up and see, who has Heaven ever spared?

Suddenly!

A tremor passed through their palms, carrying a warm resonance.

A vibrating warmth traveled from Xiao Ran's palms into her jade arms, rapidly gathering the medicinal power within her body and infusing it into her Dantian and lower abdomen at a strange frequency, nourishing her limbs and bones, and dispelling the sharp pain she had been enduring all this time.

Without her noticing, a faint blush crept onto her clear face.

Like a drop of watercolor landing on thin, pale paper, it instantly soaked through the surface, staining it with a gorgeous, rich hue.

In that instant, she understood Xiao Ran's intentions.

The withered peach tree in the courtyard suddenly sprouted branches and buds...

Lingzhou Yue was in a daze, as if she had returned to her unreachable, youthful prime.

With a wave of her hand, she dispersed the thick mist and looked up at the clear, flawless Starry Sky.

"The moon tonight... is so round."

Xiao Ran looked up; the moon was waning, shaped like a sickle.

Congratulations to the Host for gaining 5 Filial Piety Points!

Congratulations to the Host for gaining 5 Filial Piety Points!

Congratulations to the Host for gaining 5 Filial Piety Points!

Congratulations...

Dawn broke.

When the two of them finished bathing, changed their clothes, and stepped out of the hot spring pool, Xiao Ran had miraculously harvested over fifty Filial Piety Points...

This far exceeded his expectations!

So, is being a gynecologist really this satisfying?

At the edge of Hundred Herbs Peak.

True Person Yinyue glanced at the state of the two, feeling very satisfied.

Especially when she caught sight of Lingzhou Yue's warm, rounded abdomen, a faint flicker of surprise crossed her elegant, placid face, and she stared at Xiao Ran with a strange look in her eyes.

A hundred words and a thousand phrases, a myriad of curiosities—all of it reached her lips, yet in the end, she said nothing more.

"I still have matters to discuss with your Master. You should head back first."

Xiao Ran replied respectfully:

"Yes, Martial Aunt."

At that moment, Chunwa and Qiuchan rubbed their sleepy eyes as they stepped out of the bamboo house. Seeing Xiao Ran about to leave, they eagerly volunteered:

"Junior Brother Xiao Ran just finished the body dissection and hasn't fully recovered his strength. He certainly won't be steady on his sword; it would be better if we escorted him back to Sword-Wielding Mountain."

"Very well."

True Person Yinyue nodded slightly.

The two girls giggled as they summoned their swords, placing them parallel to each other with a foot of space between them. They stepped onto the blades, one in front and one behind, gliding along like skiers.

Xiao Ran shook his head helplessly, lifting his feet to step onto the treacherous craft.

After the three of them headed south:

"Let's go to the Main Peak."

True Person Yinyue and Lingzhou Yue followed suit, stepping onto their swords and flying westward.

On the way, the gale wind blew softly, stirring the dark hair and sheer veils of this beautiful master-disciple pair.

True Person Yinyue felt both comforted and not without envy as she said, "You've grown younger..."

"Hardly."

Lingzhou Yue pouted, then lightly took the bamboo tube from her waist and took a soft, gentle sip of clear wine.

"Would you like some, Master?"

"Would you really be willing to share?"

"..."

Upon arriving at the Main Peak, True Person Yinyue handed Xiao Ran's physical constitution report over to the sect.

Master Boyun immediately presided over a brief internal meeting.

The five of them voted to classify Xiao Ran's innate constitution as a top-level secret of Zongzhi Mountain, known only to the four elders and Master Boyun.

Chen Gongxing's assessment of Xiao Ran's loyalty to the sect and his Dao Heart was also delivered to the conference room.

After a thorough evaluation, the five reached a unanimous conclusion—

Xiao Ran was worthy of his status as the Direct Disciple of Sword-Wielding Mountain. In the future, he would become the new strategic weapon of Zongzhi Mountain, succeeding Lingzhou Yue, and the sect should increase its efforts to cultivate him.

Meanwhile, Lingzhou Yue, having been possessed by the spirit of a Bole and identifying the pearl among the masses, had picked out this Thousand-Li Horse, Xiao Ran. By tailoring her teaching to his aptitude, she had helped him find the right heart-method, resulting in his fierce combat prowess and his Qi Refining in just three days. For this, she was awarded the sect's highest Heaven Tier merit.

There were three rewards.

First, the total of ninety thousand Spirit Stones Lingzhou Yue had owed the sect's Crystal Vault over the past five hundred years was wiped clean.

Second, the monthly stipend for Sword-Wielding Mountain would be doubled.

Third, Lingzhou Yue was permitted to stop taking on new disciples, allowing her to focus entirely on teaching Xiao Ran, helping him solidify his lifebound sword technique as quickly as possible to increase the success rate of the Sword Inheritance Assembly and secure a superior lifebound sword.

Unburdened by debt, Lingzhou Yue slumped over the long desk and gave a long, languid stretch.

Ninety thousand Spirit Stones...

This precious disciple, I love him, I really do!

At this moment.

Still suspended in mid-air, sandwiched between the two girls as they flew, Xiao Ran felt a start.

Congratulations to the Host for gaining 30 Filial Piety Points!

What's going on? Could it be that Master has started to self-indoctrinate?

Xiao Ran was baffled.

It wasn't just the higher-ups; the inner and outer sect disciples of Zongzhi Mountain were in an uproar.

The disciple census had been completed, confirming that the constitutions of all servants, disciples, and instructors within the Mountain-Guarding Grand Array were secure.

At the same time, a Word Spirit Ring had been embedded into the outer wall of every person's Dantian, ensuring that for the next ten years, they could not reveal anything about the Wraith or Xiao Ran to outsiders.

While the disciples within the sect were forbidden from spreading the news outside, they were free to discuss it amongst themselves, and legends of Xiao Ran began to circulate everywhere.

People said all sorts of things.

Some called him a true Great Emperor Potential, distinct from the false Great Emperor Potential of Ye Fan.

Some called him the Wraith Angler, attempting to summon the Wraith only to slay it once more.

Some called him the Savior of the Apocalypse, who turned the tide when the waves were high and propped up the building when it was on the verge of collapse.

Some claimed that once talent reaches its absolute limit, it manifests as the appearance of an ordinary person—the principle that the Great Dao is simple and returns to the source.

Some argued that when talent is low enough, it becomes divine—which sounded suspiciously like the notion that "someone who gets every question wrong must necessarily be able to get every question right."

Beyond that.

Seeing Xiao Ran's terrifying talent, everyone finally realized that the reason the Sword-Wielding Elder hadn't taken a disciple for so many years wasn't because she was lazy, but because—

The disciples of this generation simply weren't good enough.