9. Charge Your Senior Sister!

The early morning in northeastern Qiongzhou was bitingly cold.

Amid the harsh mountains and treacherous waters, even the wind that blew against one's face felt like a scraping blade... Wu Ming sat cross-legged on the Cloud Carpet, feeling the fierce gale whistling past his ears. He couldn't help but tighten his clothes and hug the dharma sword even closer.

This road home was far harsher and colder than the journey there.

A single night of camping out in the wild did little to aid a True Person of the Nascent Soul realm, worn and wounded as he was. Though Gu Bai had barely managed to recover the ability to ride the clouds and travel through the air, he had no spare attention left for the disciple at his side.

Fortunately, the Cloud Carpet wobbled and swayed but finally reached Yan Mountain. Barely a day had passed since their departure, yet when Wu Ming looked down from the sky at that dilapidated Taoist temple with its peeling paint, he inexplicably felt the nostalgia of a wanderer returning home.

Before the temple, the sect's senior disciple, Zhu Ying, had long been waiting respectfully. Her posture was as straight and firm as a pine tree—even seen from high above in the sky, one could feel a chilling, imposing presence.

And when the Cloud Carpet landed, that presence doubled, becoming even more biting than the cold wind of the high heavens.

Even Gu Bai couldn't help but shrink back, forcing a gentle elder's smile onto his face, though it already betrayed his guilt.

"Ying'er..."

Before he could finish, Zhu Ying declared in a clear voice, "Welcome back, Master!"

That greeting, however, was delivered with such fierce momentum, like a cold wave sweeping through, that it sent Gu Bai's own greeting recoiling back at him. The old man shrugged his shoulders and let out a helpless sigh.

"This master was wrong."

Zhu Ying's willow-shaped brows shot up. "Oh? Then tell me, what were you wrong about?"

"Mm..." Gu Bai froze for a moment, then stammered, "This master shouldn't have casually stayed out overnight."

Zhu Ying snorted. "The prefectural city is bustling with Immortal Path activity, and there are many fellow cultivators. Since you took your little junior brother to the city, you should have let him broaden his horizons. Staying overnight was the proper thing to do."

Gu Bai added, "Then... this master rarely goes to the prefectural city, yet returned empty-handed. That truly lets down you and Ling Xi, who stayed behind to guard the mountain gate."

Zhu Ying cut him off coldly. "Our Gujian Sect can barely afford next month's Cinnabar Talisman Paper. If you dared to waste money in the city buying useless trinkets, that would make me angry."

Gu Bai sighed helplessly. "This master is dull-witted. Please, Ying'er, enlighten me on where I went wrong."

Zhu Ying didn't hold back and questioned him directly. "Did you take Hongxiao Powder again?!"

Gu Bai quickly laughed it off. "How could that be? That stuff harms the body and mind—for someone disabled like me, it's the most deadly. You've warned me so many times, how would I dare break the taboo? If you don't believe me, you can check with a technique—there's absolutely no trace of Hongxiao on me!"

Zhu Ying snorted, not bothering to go that far, and instead turned her gaze to Wu Ming beside her.

Wu Ming naturally understood. "Senior Sister, Master kept himself pure and chaste the whole way—he definitely didn't sneak any Little Red Sticks."

The next moment, Gu Bai's face changed dramatically, and Zhu Ying's brows shot up again. "Oh? Little Red Sticks... So you've even been smoking top-grade Smoke Powder!"

Gu Bai hurriedly defended himself. "Misunderstanding! That boy Wu Ming doesn't know what he's saying—he's just blurting things out. You absolutely can't take him seriously!"

"If he's just blurting things out, how can he describe the shape so accurately?"

"Pure coincidence! You have to believe this master..."

"Gu Bai, if you keep making excuses, I'm really going to get angry!"

The old man stammered a few times, then had no choice but to lower his head. "This master was wrong."

"I knew it! Every time you go far from home with no one watching, you secretly take that harmful powder! And then you come back and lie to me, saying you didn't! You usually skimp on medicine to save money, but you're willing to spend on Little Red Sticks!"

Gu Bai quickly explained, "I didn't buy them! It was that Smoke Powder dealer—to celebrate me taking on a new disciple, he specially sent some gifts before I left the city. Free, all free!"

Zhu Ying fumed. "That Smoke Powder dealer would give away top-grade Smoke Powder just because someone took on a disciple? How much have you spent at his place to get such VIP treatment?!"

Gu Bai had to keep patching things up. "It wasn't for my sake, but for Wu Ming's... And I was just about to tell you—this time, Wu Ming made quite a splash in front of Dinghuang Prefecture!"

After that, Gu Bai poured out the whole story like beans from a bamboo tube, recounting everything that had happened before Dinghuang Prefecture. He even summoned the Taiyi Dharma Sword, and the golden glow on the blade made Zhu Ying momentarily lose focus.

"...In short, it was all pure coincidence. Wu Ming showed exceptional talent in front of Dinghuang Prefecture. Even though his background is humble and he doesn't fit into the eyes of the elite, there are still humble people who come to curry favor. That Smoke Powder dealer was actually quite stingy—all talk, but in the end, he only gave one Red Stick as a gift..."

Zhu Ying raised her beautiful eyes. "How many? Tell the truth."

"...Five."

Zhu Ying held out her hand. "Mm, hand over the rest."

Gu Bai, in great pain, fished two Little Red Sticks from his bosom and handed them over with trembling hands.

But Zhu Ying wasn't done. "There's more!"

After a long struggle, as if being flayed alive, Gu Bai surrendered his last treasured Little Red Stick.

Zhu Ying didn't destroy the contraband on the spot. Instead, she carefully put it away, planning to resell it later to slightly supplement the Gujian Sect's finances.

After dealing with Gu Bai, the senior disciple of Gujian finally turned to Wu Ming, offering a gentle smile.

"Junior Brother, congratulations! I never expected you to have such excellent talent and immortal fortune. I truly underestimated you before!"

And Wu Ming, having witnessed the entire process of Zhu Ying training her master like a dog, sighed from the bottom of his heart. "It's me who underestimated you, Senior Sister..."

"?" Zhu Ying paused, then didn't take it to heart. "Yesterday, I already tidied up your quarters. I'll take you there shortly. Ling Xi has also prepared fruit cakes and herbal tea for you."

Gu Bai, upon hearing this, laughed. "Ling Xi's fruit cakes are rich and unique in flavor, but spiritual fruits are hard to come by. It's been a long time since I've tasted them."

Zhu Ying's eyes flickered, and her icy glare made Gu Bai immediately shrink his head.

--

Wu Ming's quarters were arranged at the foot of Yan Mountain.

Starting from the temple halfway up the mountain, the path wound through rugged terrain, revealing hidden beauty amid the twists and turns. The valley was lush and green, and within a fenced-in courtyard stood a small cottage named [Xianyun Abode]. Pushing open the door, the fragrance of flowers and grass greeted the nose. In the main hall were an offering table and a meditation cushion. On the wall hung two scrolls—one was a landscape painting of the Sect Leader Temple, and the other was a portrait of the Gujian Sect Leader, Gu Bai.

To the left of the main hall was a bedroom partitioned off by a bamboo wall. Inside, the bed, cabinets, table, and chairs were all present, swept clean without a speck of dust. On the table sat a plate of fruit cakes and a pot of herbal tea. To the right of the main hall was a study, with two bookshelves filled with various classics, histories, and philosophical works. On the desk were stacked a pile of talisman paper, several squares of cinnabar ink, and a set of Talisman Brushes.

Outside the small house, there were also a kitchen, a woodshed, and a latrine. Though small as a sparrow, it had all the necessary organs.

After Zhu Ying led Wu Ming on a brief tour, she didn't say much, only instructing, "Settle in and rest here for now. If you need anything, shake the bell by the bed, and I'll know. Once you're properly rested, I'll come tomorrow morning to take you for training."

"Senior Sister, wait."

"Hm? Any other problems? The Gujian Sect isn't wealthy, so conditions are inevitably rough in every way. You..."

Wu Ming certainly wasn't complaining about the conditions. He only asked, "Senior Sister, this is your residence, isn't it?"

Zhu Ying was startled and fell silent for a moment.

This conclusion wasn't hard to guess: yesterday, when Gu Bai took Wu Ming down the mountain, Zhu Ying had explicitly complained that there was no place left to live on the mountain. And in just one short day, a quiet and elegant little courtyard had been tidied up—clearly, Zhu Ying had given up her own residence.

After a moment, Zhu Ying spoke. "Twenty years ago, when Master took me in, this Xianyun Abode was his residence... Because his Dao foundation was damaged, he couldn't control his turbid qi during breathing, so it wasn't suitable for him to live too close to his disciples day and night. After confirming that I could take care of myself, he gave this residence to me and went to build the Sect Leader Temple himself. Now, I'm giving Xianyun Abode to you—this is also the Gujian Sect's tradition."

With that, Zhu Ying gave Wu Ming a deep look, her gaze carrying both scrutiny and expectation. Then she turned her head, her peripheral vision sweeping over the surroundings, and a trace of reluctance rose in her heart.

This Xianyun Abode, after all, was where she had lived for twenty years. She wasn't attached to its comfort, but she couldn't help feeling a pang of nostalgia for the place.

But of course, she wouldn't show such feelings. In a light tone, she said, "Don't worry about me. I'll move in with your Senior Sister Ling Xi. It'll be a good chance to help her straighten out that flock of birds and beasts."

But then Wu Ming asked again, "Why move out? Isn't it fine to keep living here?"

Zhu Ying was stunned. After a moment, her eyes gradually widened, her pupils sharpening as she asked in disbelief, "You... want to live together with me!?"

Wu Ming nodded. "This little house isn't as spacious as the Sect Leader Temple, but it's more than enough for the two of us to share. So I think Senior Sister doesn't need to go out of her way..."

Before he could finish, Zhu Ying's face flushed slightly, and she said, "Nonsense! Though you're not old, you're no longer a young child... A lone man and a lone woman sharing a room—what kind of propriety is that?"

Wu Ming was taken aback. "Lone man and lone woman... Senior Sister, your mind is wandering pretty far."

"You're the one not thinking far enough! The barrier between men and women is a fundamental matter of human ethics. If you ever want to achieve anything on the Human Emperor Scroll, you must be especially careful with these principles of human relations!"

Wu Ming was even more astonished. "The Human Emperor Scroll has such dregs in it?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Zhu Ying corrected him sternly. "The fact that you could gain a sixfold Human Dao Seal on your first enlightenment of the Human Emperor Scroll shows extraordinary talent in this path... Don't waste that talent on random, wild thoughts!"

Wu Ming was utterly baffled. "This talent is like something out of a demon-fighting game—one wrong move and it gets wasted!?"

"What strange talk is that now?!"

Wu Ming said, "What I mean is, if cultivating the Human Emperor Scroll requires all this moralistic nonsense, I'd rather not cultivate it."

"You!?" At that moment, genuine anger flared in Zhu Ying. "Rather not cultivate it?! Do you think this path of immortal cultivation is a street stall at a market, where you can pick and choose as you please? What's more, you were born in Qiongzhou, a Desolate Person. If you don't cultivate the Human Emperor Scroll, you don't even qualify to start on the immortal path! And there are plenty of hardships ahead! Dinghuang Prefecture's scrutiny of Desolate People is constant. Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation... every single realm has strict requirements for the Human Dao Seal. If you break through without meeting the standards, Dinghuang Prefecture will immediately send people to punish or even arrest you!"

Wu Ming was unperturbed. "This kind of baseline requirement for the masses will be a breeze for me. Since that's the case, I'll just half-ass it when the time comes. No need to take it too seriously. As a professional first-clear player, I don't read every game's user agreement from cover to cover either."

"..." Zhu Ying was momentarily speechless, but clearly, anger was surging within her, pent up in her chest. Her chest heaved violently, and even the ponytail at the back of her young girl's head began to stir without wind, floating slightly.

"...I expected that a slick, opportunistic child like you would have a stubborn and unruly side, but you've still managed to broaden my horizons."

As Zhu Ying spoke coldly, the Xianyun Abode suddenly felt like a winter gale was howling through it. The fruit cakes on the tea table in the bedroom even began to frost over slightly.

"Master was right to leave you to me. His temperament is too gentle; he tends to spoil and indulge the younger generation, and you'd definitely lead him by the nose. But that won't work with me! The more unruly you are, the stricter I'll be with you! I absolutely won't let you go down the wrong path or do the wrong thing!"

Wu Ming nodded. "In that case, Senior Sister should stay here even more, eat and live with me, and be together day and night. Otherwise, I might act unruly from time to time, and you wouldn't know, let alone stop me."

"...?"

Wu Ming continued to persuade. "For example, this Xianyun Abode was, until yesterday, the residence of a beautiful young girl. Though the bedding and such have been replaced with new ones, the furniture, walls, and floor still carry the lingering fragrance of that young beauty. As a rebellious youth who disrespects human ethics, I might just use that fragrance to do some bad things that waste my talent."

"!!??"

Zhu Ying was stunned, then realized, then horrified... and finally, shame and fury surged like a wildfire, burning her entire face as red as the evening sunset.

"You, you—you depraved, shameless wretch!?"

Wu Ming said earnestly, "Senior Sister, Master entrusted me to you because he was afraid I'd lack discipline and eventually become a true depraved, shameless wretch. As the sect's Senior Sister, please remember your original intention and don't forget your mission. Keep a strict watch over me, a close watch, a constant watch—only then will you live up to Master's painstaking efforts!"

"I, I..." Zhu Ying was so angry she couldn't even form a complete sentence. Her chest heaved violently for a long time before she finally glared, her brows furrowed, and turned her head to look out the window into the distance, toward the Sect Leader Temple.

"Gu Bai, daring to take on such a disciple to torment me—just you wait!"