He Xiao changed into a new Daoist robe, pinned up his hair and donned his crown, meticulously tidying himself from head to toe. He looked increasingly dignified and impressive—quite a handsome sight.
His eyes gleamed with excitement as he impatiently prepared to head out.
"Junior Brother Qingyun, at last night's Dharma Discussion Gathering, I got a fine job from Senior Brother Zhang. For the next two months, I'll be working at the front temple every afternoon. Heh heh, why don't you guess what I'll be doing..."
Before leaving, He Xiao did not forget to show off a little before Li Qingyun.
Li Qingyun merely smiled and watched his flamboyant roommate swagger away.
After spending some time together, he felt he had already grasped He Xiao's temperament and character seven or eight parts out of ten.
Before entering the temple to cultivate, He Xiao had been a direct descendant of the Lan Shan He Family, accustomed to a life of privilege.
After joining Lingbao Temple, management within the temple was rather lax. With money, everything could be discussed, so He Xiao continued living his carefree and happy life.
Aside from being somewhat greedy for leisure and pleasure, and having a rather high opinion of himself, he did not seem to have any other bad intentions for the time being.
"He's most likely going to the Hall of Seeking Offspring as a reception Daoist. But dressing up so carefully... could He Xiao be in a Daoist temple while still thinking of picking flowers and flirting with women?"
Li Qingyun chuckled inwardly.
Hopefully, Lingbao Temple's child-seeking business was all proper and legitimate!
In this world where demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters roamed, any temple or monastery with genuine skill in exterminating demons and suppressing fiends would never lack incense offerings or believers.
Lingbao Temple stood guard over Maple Mountain and was the most respected Daoist temple in the three surrounding counties. Its disciples patrolled the nearby regions year-round, slaying and driving away demonic aberrations, protecting ordinary people. Thus, it was deeply supported by the masses.
He had heard that the Hall of Seeking Offspring was also exceedingly efficacious. It enshrined the Dao Lord Lingbao Chunyang, whom Li Qingyun had never heard of, and it was said that the Dao Lord had bestowed children upon thousands upon thousands.
From cities, towns, and villages both near and far, those noblewomen and young wives desperate for children would come here to burn incense and worship.
Li Qingyun did not envy He Xiao's fine assignment in the slightest.
Merely coming into contact with a few flowers and grasses—how could that compare to the joy of his cultivation soaring without end?
With his cultivation now advancing by leaps and bounds, he should rank among the best of the useless fellow disciples in this Bamboo Lodge area!
Most people here were like He Xiao. They had cultivated a trace of qi sensation, yet were still far from forming a furnace of spiritual power.
He Xiao, who fancied himself carefree and held his head high, had been in the temple for over half a year. Even with his family continuously supplying him with resources, he had cultivated only a weak thread of spiritual power. He was likely still a long way from the entry-level standard of a full furnace.
There were also a mere handful who, like Li Qingyun, possessed neither Dao Bone nor Spiritual Root and had not cultivated even half a trace of spiritual power. They had simply come here to muddle through peaceful, carefree days!
Among the Daoist disciples in this row of Bamboo Lodges, those who had truly entered the path of cultivation and stepped into the first level of the Qi Refining Realm could be counted on one hand.
By his reckoning, Li Qingyun had only been in the temple for a day, yet he had already quietly surpassed the vast majority of his fellow disciples who were "slacking off"!
Calculating it out, he felt that in no more than a few years, he would become a great power in this world!
As long as he had cultivation methods corresponding to the appropriate realms, he could let the Dao image phantom do the work for him, becoming a low-key yet happy cheat while silently increasing his cultivation.
Could life get any more pleasant?
Yet the matter of Cui's bullying constantly warned him that if he could keep a low profile, he should do so. Secretly growing stronger was the kingly path.
He was no longer the Third Young Master of the Marquis Manor from before. Now, he had the capital to be low-key and luxurious.
That afternoon, at West Lodge.
Maple woods cast dappled shade, and the mountain wind carried a faint chill.
A somewhat handsome young Daoist priest had rolled his sleeves high and was humming a little tune in contentment as he hung freshly washed Daoist robes and underclothes on the branches outside the Bamboo Lodge.
He had just bathed in the pool. His hair was still wet, draped over his shoulders, giving him a fresh and clean appearance.
"Hey, do you know which room the newly arrived Junior Brother Li Qingyun lives in?"
The young Daoist priest was spreading out his clothes when a woman's voice, crisp as a silver bell, suddenly rang out behind him, like a clear breeze and flowing spring brushing past his ears.
He turned around in delighted surprise, only to fall into a daze.
Even his gaze became somewhat unfocused as an uncontrollable look of awe and admiration appeared on his face.
"Senior... Senior Sister Lu..."
Looking at the graceful, ethereal girl in white a few steps away, the young Daoist priest felt his heart suddenly pound violently, and even his speech became clumsy.
The soft, gentle afternoon sunlight passed through thin mist and the branches and leaves of the maple woods, spilling over her slender, graceful figure. It made her seem to glow like white jade, all the more radiant and beautiful.
Then a mountain breeze swept over, stirring her soft dark hair like drifting clouds and making her seem like a fairy in the forest.
"Giggle, Junior Brother, why are you spacing out? If you know, lead the way for me!"
The girl in white smiled lightly, and a faint note of self-satisfaction hung at the corners of her lustrous lips.
Lu Liqian greatly enjoyed the expressions of heartfelt admiration and infatuation that naturally appeared whenever young Daoist priests faced her.
She had always been confident in her own charm and bearing. Otherwise, how could she have made even Senior Brother Yan's heart stir back then?
"Yes, yes! Senior Sister Lu, I know Junior Brother Li. He's only just arrived, but he's already gained a bit of notoriety. He Xiao says he's a foolish blockhead who only knows how to sit in meditation..."
That smile from Lu Liqian nearly sent Wang Baiying's soul floating away. He immediately bent slightly at the waist and led the incomparably beautiful Senior Sister, her white robes fluttering, toward Bamboo Lodge C-7.
As he led the way, he kept turning back, stealing glances filled with admiration at Senior Sister Lu's fairy-like bearing.
But when he mentioned Li Qingyun, a touch of petty calculation surfaced in him, along with a disdainful, mocking air.
The newly arrived Junior Brother Li in Room C-7 was a dull fool who only knew how to bury his head in meditation. This had already begun to spread in private.
For no reason, Wang Baiying felt a trace of jealousy rise in his heart. Why had Senior Sister Lu come looking for that good-for-nothing Li Qingyun?
"Hm, what is going on? When I saw Li Qingyun in the hall yesterday, he did not seem like a fool!"
Hearing this, Lu Liqian was slightly taken aback, and hesitation could not help rising in her heart.
She was very selective. She had never paid any attention to ordinary, vulgar people.
Even if she wanted to find someone she could manipulate and control to help conceal things for her, she did not want to truly find some foolish dullard!
With that thought, Lu Liqian walked with lotus-like steps, lightly brushing aside a strand of hair beside her crystal-clear earlobe as she asked with a faint smile, "Junior Brother, I still do not know your name?"
She thought that this young Daoist priest was rather handsome, and he admired her so much. Perhaps he could also serve as an alternative choice.
"Senior Sister Lu, I... I'm Wang Baiying, from Xuyang City. I entered the temple last year and came up the mountain with Master Xu's Dao Affinity Token. After two years of diligent cultivation and hard practice, I've already cultivated some spiritual power!"
Wang Baiying's face shone red as he hurriedly introduced himself.
He was beside himself with joy, feeling that he had truly struck great luck today!
Senior Sister Lu was such a fairy-like figure, and she had always held her head high, never giving ordinary temple disciples a pleasant expression. Yet now she had actually taken the initiative to ask his name!
"Wang Baiying. It is quite a good name. I will remember it."
Lu Liqian smiled faintly, then her smile faded, and she returned to her usual cool and ethereal manner.
A light breeze brushed past. She tipped her head back slightly, her elegant neck gleaming white as jade, making her appear even more beautiful and drifting, yet lofty beyond reach.
She had been deeply versed in such methods since birth.
With just a few words, she had Wang Baiying so dizzy he could not tell east from west, making him even more obsessed with and admiring of her.
It was only the Master Xu Wang Baiying had mentioned that displeased her somewhat.
That Master Xu was Steward Xu Songyuan, who held the position of Head of Patrol Division in the temple. His status was equal to that of her father, Lu Nanling, yet the two had always been at odds.
"This Wang Baiying can be kept around for now and observed further..."
Before you continue