Looking at Su Wan'er's adorably vacant expression, Li Shouyi felt his anger boil over. Lard must have clouded his heart back then. How had he ended up finding these two walking disasters?
He really wanted to crack their heads open and see whether "Heaven's own daughter" was written inside.
They gained enlightenment at the drop of a hat, and every revelation sent their cultivation soaring.
Didn't other geniuses deserve to save some face?
At most, those people rose two or three levels.
But these two? They had gone straight to cheating!
Li Shouyi was genuinely terrified of them. He looked solemnly at Su Wan'er and said in a low voice, "Listen, disciple. Right now, just concentrate on figuring out how to lose more money to your fellow disciples. Whatever you do, don't make trouble for your master."
"Huh?"
Su Wan'er froze again.
Did Master think she wasn't doing well enough?
She had only cultivated for a few days, and she had already reached Foundation Establishment.
Surely she counted as a genius among those who had joined alongside her!
But on second thought, she felt that Li Shouyi's words couldn't be that simple.
Knowing how Master usually thought, he definitely couldn't just be telling her not to cause trouble!
If she couldn't figure it out alone, she would ask her eldest senior sister to think it over with her. She was a girl who knew how to adapt.
Then Su Wan'er smiled at Li Shouyi. "Don't worry, Master. I'll be sure to listen."
"Mm, good. Off you go!"
"Go have some fun with your fellow disciples."
Seeing that his disciple hadn't followed up with another "Master, I've gained enlightenment," Li Shouyi instantly felt much more at ease.
He couldn't help it. Once bitten by a snake, he feared even a well rope for ten years.
These two little bastards simply had no respect for the word "cultivation."
After sending Su Wan'er away, Li Shouyi returned to his room to make another desperate attempt at cultivating.
If he could improve his cultivation even a little, perhaps he would have one more chance to stay alive. He decided to go out and try his luck again tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Su Wan'er went straight back to Lin Shuishui's place.
"Eldest Senior Sister, wake up!"
"Mm, what is it now, Junior Sister?"
Having gained an initial understanding of Dreamscape True Understanding, Lin Shuishui could now control when she slept.
But controlling her sleep meant going against her own Dao, which made her terribly uncomfortable.
Su Wan'er stepped forward with a chuckle. "Senior Sister, Master just scolded me again. Hurry and help me work it out."
"Yawn... What did Master say this time?"
"Junior Sister, Master's words don't always have some special meaning. Sometimes he might mean the opposite. Think of it that way, and you'll be on the right track."
With that, Lin Shuishui flopped back onto the bed. She was going to return to her dreams and continue cultivating.
Su Wan'er blinked after hearing this. A moment later, a mysterious smile spread across her face.
Then she grabbed Lin Shuishui's hand and raced outside as though wind had sprung beneath her feet, calling, "Eldest Senior Sister, I know what Master meant!"
Lin Shuishui floated in midair as though she weighed nothing, dragged by Su Wan'er all the way toward the Cloud Cliff Sect's mission hall.
Excitement filled Su Wan'er's face. According to her eldest senior sister, Master sometimes meant the opposite of what he said. That meant he wanted them to stir things up this time!
And lately, there was only one major event in the sect: the Newcomer Grand Competition.
So, hehehe!
Don't worry, Master, Su Wan'er thought. Eldest Senior Sister and I will definitely bring you the honor of first place.
Achoo!
In his room, Li Shouyi suddenly sneezed in the midst of his dying struggle. He wiped his nose and frowned. "Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling?"
At that thought, he hurriedly began counting on his fingers to perform a divination.
A moment later, his expression changed, and he cursed under his breath. "Damn it, those two unfilial disciples are screwing me over again!"
Li Shouyi immediately moved to get up and drag those two idiots back.
He had barely finished telling them to behave before the pair went off to enter some newcomer competition.
They really had let his words blow straight past their ears.
"Is Elder Li here?"
Li Shouyi had just opened the door when he saw someone he hadn't expected.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm telling you, I won't take you as my disciple. Give up on that idea already!"
The visitor was none other than Zhou Kangyong, Great Zhou's fourth prince—the genius he had turned down.
Hearing this only made the fire in Zhou Kangyong's heart burn hotter.
Why would you rather take in a useless dud than accept me?
Are you looking down on me, Big G?
Zhou Kangyong immediately put on a fake smile. "Elder Li, my master, Elder Shi Yaoqian, ordered me to inform you that your two new disciples must participate in the newcomer competition. Otherwise, you will be punished under sect rules."
"What the hell?"
Li Shouyi was instantly dumbfounded.
He didn't remember any such sect rule!
"Oh, the sect master only added that rule yesterday. It's meant to stop certain people from using disciple recruitment as a pretext to abuse their authority for personal gain."
"Boy, what do you mean by that?"
"I don't mean anything. I've delivered the message. Elder Li, do remember to have your two 'genius' disciples enter!"
With that, Zhou Kangyong mounted a ridiculously flashy flying sword and vanished into the horizon in a streak of light.
"Holy shit, that brat really is fucking loaded."
Li Shouyi gazed enviously at Zhou Kangyong's flying sword. If he wasn't mistaken, it was the latest model from the Hidden Sword Manor.
Its price was a one followed by a whole string of zeroes.
Once he calmed down, Li Shouyi realized someone was targeting him.
If his guess was right, it had something to do with his cultivation failing to improve for so long.
After all, he had collected the sect's monthly stipend for ten whole years. Even an idiot could tell that he would probably never advance any further in this lifetime.
But to avoid openly falling out with him, the sect master could only make an overt move like this, forcing him out by indirect means.
Having figured it out, Li Shouyi sighed quietly and murmured, "Times are hard, and the world is treacherous. Why won't these people show even a shred of consideration for old ties?"
With no other options, Li Shouyi could only pin his hopes on his two idiot disciples again.
He hoped they could place well in the competition.
That would let him stay in the Cloud Cliff Sect a while longer, at least.
Ideally, he could hide there until his enemies came knocking, and the Cloud Cliff Sect would fight them to the death to defend its dignity. That would give him a much better chance of survival.
"Master, we're back."
While Li Shouyi was pondering how to pull the sect onto his side, Su Wan'er returned, dragging Lin Shuishui along.
"Master, I did as you intended and took Eldest Senior Sister to sign up for the newcomer competition."
The corner of Li Shouyi's mouth twitched at her words.
What he admired most was the miraculous way Su Wan'er's mind worked. Heaven bear witness.
Li Shouyi had clearly told her to keep a low profile.
Yet this idiot had turned right around and stirred up trouble...
"Aren't you just amazing!"
Things had already reached this point. What else could Li Shouyi do?
Before you continue