A Silver Boat suddenly appeared amid the clouds at the horizon, with a beautiful woman standing atop it, like a celestial maiden.
The Silver Boat spun as it descended, landing on the Bluestone Path below the Dao Seeking Pavilion before transforming into an earring that hung from the beauty's earlobe.
The beauty raised a hand, and a blast of force shot toward the Dao Seeking Bell, producing a clear chime.
This was called ringing the Dao Seeking Bell.
When disciples sought the Dao, they first rang the Dao Seeking Bell.
It was an application to ask questions about the Dao.
Lin Su raised his gaze and looked through a gap in the small courtyard at the petite beauty, surprise flickering in his eyes. Why was it her?
The Little Saintess he had seen earlier in the Library Pavilion.
"Brother, another big sister came to get scammed." Xiao Yao's whisper slipped into Lin Su's ear. She had finished the wild chicken, and her greasy mouth rubbed against Lin Su's shoulder. This girl had just one bad habit—she could never learn proper hygiene.
Lin Su turned his head and made a shushing gesture at her.
Then he swiftly entered through the side door and went into the discussion chamber within. There were no windows in the tightly sealed chamber. He lifted a hand lightly, and a small hammer struck the little bell beside him. Its crisp chime answered, signifying that he had accepted the disciple's application to seek the Dao.
Beyond the bamboo curtain, the Little Saintess appeared out of thin air and gave a slight bow. "Third Elder, I fear something has gone wrong with my cultivation. I came today only in hopes of receiving an explanation."
Lin Su took a deep breath and altered his voice. "What has gone wrong? Speak."
"Yes!" The Little Saintess was exceptionally respectful at this moment. "Three days ago, after I broke through to the Dao Flower Realm, I suddenly began bleeding continuously from my lower body. I examined my entire body internally and sorted through my meridians, yet found no internal injuries and felt no pain. Precisely because of this, the situation cannot be normal..."
Lin Su's eyes widened in the darkness...
Why did that sound like a period?
As she continued describing her symptoms, it no longer merely sounded like one. He became completely certain!
The Little Saintess had grown up. It was her first time getting that thing!
Her biological knowledge was a big fat zero, and she had just broken through in cultivation. Naturally, she interpreted this ordinary change in a woman's life through the lens of her cultivation technique. When she could not make sense of it, she panicked...
All the emotions filling Lin Su's stomach condensed into two words: "...No matter!"
The answer landed in the Little Saintess's ears, and her whole body seemed electrified. "Elder, can you cure it?"
Cure it?
Even if I could, I wouldn't dare! If I made you go through menopause early, I'm afraid your parents would beat me to death...
His hesitation was misunderstood by the Little Saintess. "This disciple respectfully begs Elder to lend your miraculous hand. Whether it succeeds or fails, I shall be deeply grateful!"
The moment those words were spoken, Lin Su changed his mind...
Why not accept a free favor?
"Close your six senses and relax your entire body..."
The Saintess closed her eyes and drew back her divine sense. For the sake of treatment, she was truly cooperative.
Lin Su came up behind her. He looked at the peerlessly exquisite beauty before him, inhaled the maiden's fragrance that seeped into his nostrils, glanced sideways at the wonderful swell of her chest, and felt the contrast between her earlier holiness and her present meekness.
To be honest, wicked thoughts did arise.
But to his credit, when his fingers came down, he still had a bottom line—perhaps two or three ounces of one...
About five minutes later, Lin Su forcibly cut off the wild monkey and racing horse in his heart. Reluctantly withdrawing his fingers, he returned behind the bamboo curtain. After calculating the timing of her "terrible illness," he said through the curtain, "Return for now. You will surely recover tomorrow!"
At some unknown point, a faint blush had appeared on the Saintess's face. She slowly opened her eyes and gave a slight bow. "Many thanks, Elder!"
She took a small bundle from her robes, placed it on the table, and left.
Back in the small courtyard, Lin Su opened the bundle. Inside were ten taels of silver.
Xiao Yao excitedly leaped eight inches into the air. "Ten taels... Brother's scamming more and more people... Oh, no, I mean, famous teacher's guidance, reasonable fees."
Lin Su rubbed her head and muttered, "This situation was a little special. I'm not entirely sure... cough, cough... whether it was really reasonable..."
Huh? Xiao Yao was dumbfounded...
The next day, the Little Saintess's "terrible illness" of bleeding was cured. After confirming it once more, flowers bloomed in her heart. Her joyful mood was noticed by her elder sister, who smiled faintly. "Little Sister, you have cast aside the anxious worry of the past few days and are so happy today. Could it be that something joyous has happened?"
The Saintess smiled. "A few days ago, this little sister was afflicted by a terrible illness. I feared my cultivation had gone astray, so I was somewhat worried. Fortunately, Third Elder lent his miraculous hand, and I have now fully recovered."
The smile on her sister's face stiffened. "Third Elder? Didn't Third Elder leave with Mother for Turtle Abyss half a month ago?"
The Saintess frowned. "That cannot be. For the past half month, Third Elder has always been at the Dao Seeking Pavilion. He has repeatedly offered profound insights in answering disciples' cultivation questions. All the disciples have said that Third Elder's discussions of the Dao during this period were concise yet profound, and they benefited immensely."
Her sister was filled with suspicion. He had been there the entire half month? How was that possible? Others might not know, but did she not know? When Mother and Third Elder set off together, she had been standing right beside them...
Without revealing anything, she said, "Tell me about your terrible illness, and how he lent his miraculous hand."
The Saintess told her...
When she heard about the Saintess's illness, her sister's eyes widened. Heavens, wasn't this plainly menstruation? How could she have the nerve to ask a man about this?
When she heard the "pavilion keeper's" method of "treatment," rage rose from her heart, evil sprang from her gallbladder, and she cursed that bastard inwardly...
She exploded on the spot!
With a whoosh, she shot into the sky, carrying an incomparably ferocious gale toward the Dao Seeking Pavilion.
Within the Dao Seeking Pavilion, Lin Su was discussing the Dao in an aged, gentle tone. Several disciples below listened with flowers blooming in their hearts, while a bag of silver pooled by four or five of them sat on the table...
Just as the "pooling money to discuss the Dao" was nearing its end, the Young Lady transformed into a gale of fury and charged into the Dao Seeking Pavilion. With a lift of her hand, the bamboo curtain before her turned to dust out of thin air. Her fair hand, like divine punishment, passed through the darkness of the Dao Seeking Pavilion's inner chamber, seized Lin Su by the throat, and soared into the sky...
The instant Lin Su saw sunlight, he was dumbfounded.
When he saw the beautiful face before him, brows raised in fury and eighty percent similar to the Little Saintess's, a curse rang through his heart.
An old saying had truly not been wrong: if you walk the rivers and lakes, sooner or later you must repay your debts; if your hands itch, you must pay the price...
The entire Cloud Stream Sect exploded!
Countless disciples were enraged!
The most enraged of all were precisely the disciples he had previously "guided"!
On the road of cultivation, receiving an elder's guidance was a disciple's honor. But upon suddenly learning that the one who had guided them was actually a Registered Disciple several ranks beneath them—and a cultivation cripple who could not even step through the door of cultivation—their fury surged like mountains collapsing and seas overturning.
"Daring to defile the Dao Seeking Pavilion, beat him to death!" ten disciples shouted in unison.
"Daring to swindle money in the name of seeking the Dao, beat him to death!" a hundred disciples shouted in unison.
In front of Lin Su, Xiao Yao bravely stepped forward, hands on her hips. "This isn't scamming. This is 'famous teacher's guidance, reasonable fees'..."
"Beat her!"
A crowd rushed at Xiao Yao. She scrambled and crawled back to Lin Su's side, her little face completely pale...
Just then, a figure descended from the sky. He wore blue robes with long sleeves, had a snow-white goatee, and a face full of black lines. With a light shake of his sleeve, the dozens of disciples charging forward were all frozen where they stood—those on the ground were fixed to the ground, while those in midair were fixed in the void.
"Third Elder!"
"Master..." Lin Su squeezed out two words, his voice a little dry.
This was the Dao Seeking Pavilion's true pavilion keeper. Third Elder had returned!
"I already know every cause and consequence!" Third Elder's voice was low and hoarse. "Seeking the Dao for the sake of amassing wealth violates sect rules. All money collected shall be returned in full!"
He stretched out a hand, and the jar Xiao Yao had hidden deep beneath the bed came spinning through the air.
Xiao Yao let out a shriek. "This is famous teacher's guidance, reasonable—"
Lin Su moved quickly and hurriedly covered her mouth.
The jar shattered, and silver rained down like raindrops.
Third Elder's voice blanketed the entire area. "As for Lin Su, I have my own method of disciplining him. Disperse!"
With a sweep of his great sleeve, everyone present, along with the silver scattered throughout the sky, was swept in all directions at once. Lin Su's vision went dark, then bright, and he appeared in the small courtyard. Only three people remained there: himself, Xiao Yao, and his master. The surroundings were so quiet that it was a little chilling...
Third Elder took a deep breath, his eyeballs bulging outward...
Lin Su hurriedly spoke. "There is an ancient saying: do not discipline disciples in anger, do not discipline wives at night. Master, please sit down first. This disciple will prepare several good dishes for you. After I welcome you home and wash away the dust from your journey, this disciple will neither hide nor evade and will willingly confess my crimes!"
He grabbed Xiao Yao and darted into the kitchen.
In the courtyard, Third Elder's eyes bulged high as he panted heavily. With a bang, he slapped his own forehead, and even the courtyard gate behind him was sent flying...
In the kitchen, Lin Su chopped vegetables without looking aside, but he had noticed the commotion outside.
Master and disciple had spent time together. Overall, Lin Su could still handle Third Elder.
Two methods had never failed him.
First, the old man was traditional and old-fashioned. As long as he said, "There is an ancient saying," even if he farted afterward, the old man would believe three parts of it.
Second, delicious food!
As a Cultivation Sect, they truly had no pursuit of food, living on wind and sleeping under dew. Before Lin Su came, Third Elder basically did not partake of Mortal Worldly Affairs. But after Lin Su brought out an iron wok and stir-fried several modern home-style dishes, the old man rediscovered Mortal Worldly Affairs.
What he had done today was rather serious. Lin Su feared the old man might do something excessive in the heat of his anger, so he used both methods together, first letting him calm down and cool off.
The method was clearly effective. After the old man slapped his own forehead, his anger seemed to have faded by eighty percent.
Several dishes were brought to the table. The old man let out a long breath and picked up his chopsticks.
Lin Su and Xiao Yao stood to the side, quite respectful now.
Once the dishes were finished, Xiao Yao carried the bowls into the kitchen. Third Elder pointed at the chair before him, and Lin Su sat down.
The old man raised his gaze, and boundless emotion flashed through his eyes in an instant. "Do you know what crime you committed this time?"
Lin Su cried injustice. "Master, this disciple has been wronged... Master left, and fellow disciples came to seek instruction. With the sect in my heart and a sincere desire for fellow disciples to help one another, this disciple did his utmost to answer the senior brothers' and senior sisters' doubts. How can that be wrong? There is an ancient saying—"
"Shut up!" Third Elder roared, forcibly cutting off his "There is an ancient saying"!
Lin Su stared blankly at him.
The old man slapped his own forehead again and let out a long sigh. "This matter is also this master's fault. I never told you the sect's precepts. I originally thought that within the sect, you could not even beat a dog, so you would not have the ability to cause trouble. Never did I expect you to be so utterly subversive—once you cause trouble, you stab straight into the heavens... Listen well. What you have committed violates two of the sect's Eighteen Precepts: 'overstepping one's station' and 'defiling the Dao platform'! Anyone who violates any one of the Eighteen Precepts..."
He panted heavily, brewing a terrifying emotion.
Lin Su finally became a little nervous. "What will happen?"
Third Elder slowly exhaled eight words: "Cultivation abolished, expelled from the sect!"