Disciple Token

Zhou Hai spoke again, "As for the specifics, you can figure them out yourself."

"As for the choice I gave you, go back and think it over carefully. Come to Pillars of Cultivation Pavilion within the next couple of days and give me your answer."

Ning Ri immediately said, "Thank you, Elder Zhou. Please go attend to your business."

Zhou Hai nodded, then swiftly vanished from sight.

After watching Zhou Hai leave, Ning Ri turned and entered Golden Osmanthus Garden, returning to his little cottage within the garden.

The cottage was simply furnished: only a table, a chair, a bed, and a meditation cushion.

There was a pot of water and a bottle of Bigu Pills on the table. Those at the Qi Refinement stage could not yet go without food, so Bigu Pills were the most convenient option and very filling.

Bigu Pills came in many flavors—fried, stir-fried, braised, boiled, steamed, and stewed. Ning Ri had eaten one with a clear broth flavor the day before yesterday. It was neither oily nor greasy, and he was not hungry yet.

The room was pleasantly cool. By the small window, sunlight like gold leaf spread across several little green plants, wisps of spiritual energy drifting from them.

Ning Ri had sat on that meditation cushion over the past two days. It was quite comfortable.

It was clearly just a round seat woven from cattail grass, with no structure whatsoever to support the waist or abdomen. It looked utterly ordinary, yet it was somehow incredibly comfortable.

When Ning Ri meditated on it, his crossed legs did not grow sore, his lower-back muscles did not strain, and even his neck naturally settled into a comfortable position...

It was truly miraculous!

He had previously wondered whether people with poor posture would get herniated discs from sitting in meditation to cultivate.

Now it seemed that cultivation naturally solved such problems.

Returning to the meditation cushion, Ning Ri first set his disciple robes aside, then took out his Disciple Token. He used the sect-issued [Painless Needle] to painlessly draw blood, then dripped it onto the two characters Ning Ri on the token's surface.

This was the method Zhou Hai had told them for recognizing an owner when he handed out the tokens.

The [Painless Needle] was mainly for the convenience of drawing blood from children in the Outer Sect. Besides, children could be terribly noisy when they cried, and the [Painless Needle] neatly solved both that problem and the noise caused by their crying.

Once Ning Ri's blood landed on the token, the Disciple Token quickly bound itself to him.

The sensation of that binding made the top of Ning Ri's head itch, as if something had grown there. And through that thing which had grown out, he could sense the token...

This meant the ownership recognition had succeeded.

After recognizing its owner, the token immediately emitted a calm voice. "Congratulations on successfully joining the Heaven Defying Sect. From this moment onward, you will begin your journey toward immortality. In the Heaven Defying Sect, what you can obtain will far exceed your imagination."

The voice was calm and low, incomparably rich, giving him a sense of inner peace.

Hearing it, Ning Ri revealed a surprised look—

There really was an artifact spirit?!

The token continued, "Future mighty figure of the Cultivation World, the first step upon the vast immortal path is to learn how to use the Disciple Token in your hand."

"To learn how to use your Disciple Token, you must first master me!"

"Now, please begin mastering me!"

"Please choose the role I will play and how I will interact with you. Choose carefully. You may only make one choice every three days."

"Please note: mortals without cultivation cannot choose freely."

As soon as the voice fell silent.

A row of light clusters popped out from the Disciple Token:

[elder][teacher][friend][lover][archenemy][fellow disciple who is both friend and foe][childhood sweetheart separated for many years][childhood friend reunited after years apart, only to find that you no longer have anything in common][servant who both loves and hates you]...

At the same time, a second row of light clusters popped out:

[peaceful][strict][irritable][utterly emotionless][warm and considerate][kindly][cold][indulgent][overbearing and tyrannical][sharp-tongued]...

Ning Ri stared blankly at the enormous number of light clusters that had appeared.

No, bro, you...

Your sect was way too heaven-defying and bizarre!

This was the artifact spirit you meant?!

What the hell was all this nonsense?

How was this an artifact spirit? This was clearly a customized person!

And he understood why mortals without cultivation were not allowed to choose these things...

This was not something mortals could handle...

After thinking for a moment, he planned to choose a [peaceful] [teacher].

I came here to cultivate.

Not to mess around with all this useless nonsense.

Those who disturb my heart turn every day into endless worries.

Don't come add to the chaos.

What the fuck was all this stuff?

All that stuff at the end had to be made by Joyful Union Courtyard, right?

He did not even look at those messy labels in the back.

Yet after pondering for a moment, he still hesitated for a while and drew back the finger that was about to descend...

It wasn't that I wanted to fool around.

I was just curious...

What exactly would a warm and considerate archenemy, a kindly fellow disciple who was both friend and foe, a childhood sweetheart who became overbearing and tyrannical after years apart, or a servant who both loved and hated him yet indulged him... be like?

After all, he had learned artifact forging too. There was no problem with taking a look.

In the end, Ning Ri chose a [warm and considerate] [archenemy].

After making his choice, he waited quietly...

He had no idea what sort of thing would pop out.

Once he finished choosing, all the light clusters above the Disciple Token retracted. Immediately afterward, a voice slowly sounded from the token:

"Long time no see!"

"Ning Ri, I never thought that you would join the Heaven Defying Sect too."

"Hehe, but you did not expect this, did you? You can no longer catch up to my realm. You really are useless..."

"Very well. For the day when we discuss the Dao at the summit, let me personally nurture you."

"Do you have any questions?"

Ning Ri looked at the Disciple Token, thinking, so warm and considerate was expressed through [personally nurture you]? And archenemy was built around [Dao Discussion at the summit]? This character setting was way too superficial, wasn't it?

After pondering for a moment, Ning Ri decided to say, "You think you're worthy?"

Disciple Token: "..."

Ning Ri looked at the silent Disciple Token, unable to help wondering what it would reply with next.

After remaining silent for a long while, the Disciple Token spoke:

"Your question is overly complex. The token was unable to understand it. Please ask again."

Ning Ri: "..."

You're playing dead, aren't you?!

He finally understood why Zhou Hai had said the Disciple Token "sort of had an artifact spirit."

Whenever it encountered something it could not handle, it started playing disappearing tricks!

Ning Ri decided to try once more and politely asked, "What I mean is, where do you get the qualifications and confidence to nurture me?"

This time, the Disciple Token responded normally, saying breezily, "Naturally, I possess those qualifications. Ning Ri, you do not know how much more I have experienced than you."

"Before you entered the Heaven Defying Sect, I was already the most knowledgeable existence in the Heaven Defying Sect."

Ning Ri scratched his head...