Chen Mu had long since grown used to the system being able to hear his thoughts.
What he had never expected, however, was that this could hurt its fragile feelings, throw it off balance, and make it scramble to prove its worth.
[System upgrade attempt 32 failed!] [System upgrade attempt 36: data acquired successfully! Upgrading...] [Upgrade successful! Tenfold Rebate module bound! New function unlocked: Tenfold Rebate!]
Tenfold Rebate?
Chen Mu was still puzzling over it.
The system immediately offered a helpful explanation: [In short, most actions involving gifts or expenditures of money or items will receive a tenfold rebate from the system. For example, give away one spirit stone and receive ten in return!]
[Successfully gifted one hundred Supreme Spirit Stones! Tenfold Rebate triggered! Congratulations, host, you have received one thousand Supreme Spirit Stones!] [Successfully gifted one thousand Supreme Spirit Stones! Tenfold Rebate triggered! Congratulations, host, you have received ten thousand Supreme Spirit Stones!]
Huh?
Chen Mu asked inwardly, I gave them those Spirit Stones before you upgraded the Tenfold Rebate function, didn't I? You can refund those too?
The system replied: [Since the host was not yet familiar with this function, and this is a new upgrade benefit, certain privileges have been granted. Entirely reasonable.]
"..." Chen Mu was speechless.
He opened the system inventory.
One glance was all it took to give him a fright.
There were at least several hundred Saint-Tier Divine Weapons and Treasure Weapons in his inventory!
The system had secretly checked in for all of them while he slept, acting entirely on its own.
Then he opened his personal status panel.
[Name: Chen Mu] [Sex: male] ... [Innate spiritual root: Yellow-Tier Low-Grade Mixed Spiritual Root]
All of that was fairly normal.
But when Chen Mu reached the lifespan field, he could no longer keep his expression under control.
He raised a hand to his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
[Lifespan: 97,800 years]
Ninety-seven thousand eight hundred years?!
Only after checking several times did Chen Mu dare conclude that the system wasn't joking.
What had it been before?
If Chen Mu remembered correctly, his lifespan had been only eighty-seven years.
A single nap had added over ninety thousand years!
Chen Mu started to speak, then stopped.
Forget it. With a lineage like mine, having more years to enjoy life isn't a bad thing.
He couldn't resist grumbling inwardly, Since you can upgrade, why not upgrade your emotional management first?
Chen Mu worried that if the system remained this fragile, something would go seriously wrong with it someday.
At precisely that moment, it went quiet and began playing dead...
An unknown amount of time passed.
After polishing off every dish, Chen Mu rubbed his stomach. He was about eighty percent full.
He was surprised himself; he hadn't expected to have such a huge appetite.
Then Ye Qingcheng explained it to him.
Cultivators were different from ordinary people. Common food like this contained far too little spiritual energy, so they mostly ate it for the flavor.
In terms of staving off hunger, that entire table of food probably couldn't match a single bowl of Mystic Crystal Rice.
Chen Mu thought this arrangement was rather nice. It meant he could sample even more delicious food!
He glanced at Ye Qingcheng, who was busy clearing away the dishes, then at the bright moon hanging high in the sky.
Chen Mu looked troubled. "I slept too long earlier. Now... I don't think I can fall asleep..."
He was wide awake, without the slightest trace of drowsiness.
Should I go out for a stroll?
Just sitting around was rather boring.
The cold wind was biting, nowhere near as pleasant as the warm daytime sun.
[System upgrade attempt 53: data acquired successfully! Upgrading...] [Upgrade successful! Great Calligrapher module bound! New function unlocked: Great Calligrapher!] [Upgrade successful! Great Painter module bound! New function unlocked: Great Painter!] [Checking in...] [Check-in successful! Congratulations, host, you have received the Top-Grade Brush, Ink, Paper, and Inkstone!]
"Calligraphy and painting?" Chen Mu grinned. "Not a bad way to pass the time."
He had been quite interested in both in his previous life, but he'd lacked both the time and the talent.
He hadn't expected the system to give him everything in one fell swoop.
He found a long table and spread out a sheet of top-grade rice paper.
The paper felt like human skin.
With his fingertips alone, he could easily tell that it truly deserved to be called top-grade!
"How refined, young master. Are you going to practice calligraphy?" Ye Qingcheng had just finished her work and returned to find Chen Mu making these preparations.
She naturally stepped forward and took over grinding the ink.
"Yes." Chen Mu nodded. "Since I'm idle anyway, I might as well find something to do and cultivate a few hobbies."
Ye Qingcheng parted her thin lips, about to say something, only to notice the brush in Chen Mu's hand. "Is... is that the Heavenly Source Brush?!"
Then she realized that the paper was Ice-Skin Paper, something even a fortune could hardly buy.
It was said to feel like a maiden's skin. Among the finest papers in existence, it was coveted by countless literary masters, yet impossible to find on the market.
Both the ink and the inkstone possessed spiritual energy, something that could not develop in less than ten thousand years.
In the past, a set like this would only have appeared in the imperial palace, reserved for the emperor's use!
"Sorry. I'll grind the ink for you right away, young master." Noticing Chen Mu watching her, Ye Qingcheng immediately came back to her senses and resumed her work.
She felt she had made far too much of a fuss. For the young master, something like this was hardly surprising.
She had to get used to it quickly, lest she lose her composure and embarrass herself again.
Before long, Ye Qingcheng finished grinding the ink and stepped aside so she wouldn't get in Chen Mu's way.
He dipped the brush in ink.
"..." Just as he was about to write, his hand stopped.
Only then did Chen Mu remember that while the system had given him the skill to write calligraphy, his belly wasn't exactly brimming with literary ink.
What should I write?
The next second, he suddenly remembered a particularly commanding ancient poem from his previous life.
He had often seen people mention it.
Chen Mu chose just two lines.
"Kill a man every ten steps; roam a thousand miles without leaving a trace."
"Once the deed is done, brush off your robes and depart, hiding your person and your name!"
Ye Qingcheng read softly beside him. The more she savored these lines, the richer their flavor became.
Especially paired with those powerful, vigorous characters, their strokes as sharp and unyielding as blades.
Such commanding grandeur. It was simply overwhelming!
"Young master, I never imagined you were so talented!" Ye Qingcheng made no attempt to hide her admiration for Chen Mu.
In her heart, she gained an entirely new understanding of him.
With literary brilliance and brushwork like this, what would it matter even if he were a cripple?
He could still make countless literary giants bow in admiration, win the respect of gifted scholars, and secretly capture beautiful women's hearts.
Chen Mu merely assumed Ye Qingcheng was praising his calligraphy.
Was I supposed to explain that this poem was actually written by someone named Li Bai?
Where would I find such a person?
After finishing that sheet, he tossed it aside.
Then he spread out another.
He hurried to write the lines down while he still remembered them.
"Alone, I fought across three thousand miles; one sword once held against a million troops!"
"I fear not shattered bones and a pulverized body; let my purity remain in this world!"
"My two feet overturn the waves of the mortal world; one shoulder bears all the sorrows of past and present!"
"When life goes well, rejoice to the fullest; let not a golden cup face the moon empty. Heaven gave me talents that must find their use; a thousand gold scattered will return again!"
By the time she finished reading, Ye Qingcheng was trembling all over.
The talent Chen Mu had displayed shook her profoundly. Even her soul was paying him homage.
She couldn't stop herself from worshipping him inwardly.
Ye Qingcheng was absolutely certain these were not existing verses.
If they were, there was no way she would only be learning of them now.
They would already have become required reading for every scholar and poet!
After writing so much, Chen Mu had almost squeezed out every line he could remember and was growing a little bored.
Besides, he now had a very clear understanding of the Great Calligrapher function.
He decided to switch to painting next.
He would paint the most beautiful landscape in his predecessor's memories.
"Tranquil Valley!" Ye Qingcheng recognized it at once.
"What? You've been there?" Chen Mu asked casually, his eyes remaining fixed on the paper and the tip of his brush.
"Yes. It's a beautiful place. Once you're there, your whole body relaxes, as though you've become one with heaven, earth, and all things," Ye Qingcheng described her experience.
"Really? Then I'll have to see it for myself when I get the chance."
Ye Qingcheng didn't answer.
All her attention had been drawn to the Tranquil Valley taking shape beneath Chen Mu's brush.
It was lifelike. Far too lifelike!
It gave Ye Qingcheng the illusion that she was standing inside it.
Fine paper and fine ink, combined with Chen Mu's incomparably powerful painting skills.
In Ye Qingcheng's mind, only one word could describe it: unrivaled.
Before this, how could she have imagined that Chen Mu possessed such extraordinary talent and skill in calligraphy?
And that the same was true of painting.
On top of that, he had the transcendent talent to break through cultivation realms in his sleep!
The young master truly is terrifying!
It thoroughly shook awake Ye Qingcheng, who had once considered herself a genius. Beside him, she felt like a frog at the bottom of a well.
Sitting at the bottom of her well, she had thought the patch of sky she saw was everything.
Little had she known that beyond every great person stood another, and beyond every heaven lay a higher heaven!
And beyond those higher heavens stands the young master!
She resolved to remain humble and patient from now on, to work hard and cultivate diligently. She could not disappoint the young master's expectations or waste his efforts to nurture her.
"Finished. That's a wrap!"
He put down the brush.
Chen Mu gazed at the ink landscape before him, its rich fragrance lingering, its ink not yet fully dry. He was thoroughly satisfied.
He felt he could write and paint more whenever he had nothing to do. It would both pass the time and nourish his spirit.
"Young master, are you going to rest?" Ye Qingcheng asked when she saw Chen Mu turn toward his bedroom.
"Yes. After putting my brain to work, I suddenly feel sleepy." Chen Mu raised his arms high and stretched.
"Then what should I do with these verses and this painting?" Ye Qingcheng asked.
"Whatever you like. If you want them, take them. Otherwise, you can burn them for kindling." Chen Mu didn't care.
He could easily write as many as he wanted anyway.
"No! Don't burn them! Such wonderful poetry and such a beautiful painting—it would be a terrible shame to destroy them!" Ye Qingcheng hurriedly protested.
"Sure, do as you see fit. I'm going back to my room to rest." Chen Mu yawned repeatedly.
"All right. I'll fetch water to wash your feet right away." Ye Qingcheng swept a hand through the air above the poems and painting, storing them all in her Spatial Ring.
Then she hurried off to fetch water for Chen Mu's feet.
"Excuse me." She pushed the door open and entered.
"..."
He watched Ye Qingcheng set the wooden basin before him, crouch down, and carefully remove his shoes and socks.
Chen Mu couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
A Saintess... washing feet?
Putting those two things together felt utterly incongruous.
Wasn't a Saintess supposed to stand high above everyone, the focus of countless admiring eyes?
But all those thoughts were washed away by comfort once Ye Qingcheng began lowering his feet into the hot water, carefully, inch by inch, as though handling exquisite porcelain.
Two words: pure bliss!
Having someone wash his feet was a pleasure in itself.
All the more so when the person washing his feet was none other than a sect's Saintess!
[Checking in...] [Check-in successful! Congratulations, host! You received One-Click Simp Card ×10!]
"..." Chen Mu's brows knitted tightly, his face full of question marks.
What the hell was this system trying to pull??
Before you continue