When you had a handful of rice, the chickens would flock to you of their own accord.
But anyone with experience knew that the rice was for showing the chickens, not feeding them. If you actually scattered that handful of rice to get them to lay eggs, there was no guarantee of any eggs, but they would definitely turn around and leave once they had eaten their fill.
And that went double for chickens of unknown origin like this one. Who knew whether they carried bird flu?
Of course,
he was talking about chickens.
The feathered kind.
Chen Yu held Senior Sister Lü in the utmost respect.
And so, when Senior Sister Lü suddenly caught up and struck up a conversation, he responded politely to everything she said.
When she went a step further and started brushing her ripe fruits against Chen Yu's arm, seemingly by accident... his body did react a little, but that was hardly blameworthy. He was a hot-blooded young man. Having no reaction would have been the real problem.
Still, after spending some time with her, Chen Yu knew this Senior Sister Lü was no ordinary woman. Her motives for approaching him were anything but innocent, so he deliberately kept his distance.
What?
You mean Ah Zhen?
She was different.
Lü Yanyan teased him twice. Seeing that Chen Yu showed no response, a flicker of surprise slipped through her beautiful eyes. No man had ever maintained such a frigid demeanor when she took the initiative.
Knowing that continuing would only backfire, she swiftly changed tactics. Her seductive air vanished, replaced by something fresh and natural.
"I remember... you said earlier that you wanted to challenge the Outer Sect Genius Ranking, Junior Brother."
As she spoke, Lü Yanyan gently twirled the ends of her hair around her finger. "If you need anything, or want any information, you can come find me anytime. I'm staying in Room C-B on the second floor of the Emerald Cloud Inn."
She paused there, pressing her lips together in a smile.
Then she lightly patted Chen Yu's shoulder.
"Challenging the Outer Sect Genius Ranking might be difficult, but I believe you can do it, Junior Brother!"
After speaking, Lü Yanyan secretly studied Chen Yu's expression.
Chen Yu looked straight ahead. Though he wore a smile, there was not the slightest trace of attraction or secret delight. He merely replied politely, "Thank you, Senior Sister."
Lü Yanyan frowned.
For a moment,
she genuinely could not figure out what sort of woman Chen Yu liked.
"You're welcome."
They had already reached the midpoint of Emerald Cloud Peak. Lü Yanyan would head to the Emerald Cloud Inn, while Chen Yu would continue uphill to his residence.
After some thought, Lü Yanyan said in a cool voice, "Get some rest early, little brother."
As soon as she spoke,
she caught Chen Yu's puzzled look.
Lü Yanyan hurriedly corrected herself. "That came out wrong... I meant Junior Brother."
"Oh."
Chen Yu nodded.
He replied to Lü Yanyan, "You should get some rest early too, Senior Sister."
With that, Chen Yu continued uphill.
Behind him, Lü Yanyan's smile froze as she watched her handsome junior brother's figure recede.
With 140 points in hand, Chen Yu was undoubtedly a big fish. Giving up was out of the question, but... just what type did this guy like?
Meanwhile.
Recalling what had just happened, Chen Yu sank into thought.
In just a few minutes, she smoothly and naturally switched between seductive, innocent, and mature older woman. This Senior Sister Lü really was something.
If it had been some inexperienced little virgin instead, wouldn't she have toyed with him in the palm of her hand?
Fortunately,
after being put through my paces by Ah Zhen,
my self-control had long since become rock-solid.
He returned to his residence.
Chen Yu took off his tattered robe and threw it away.
Wearing clothes like that outside violated the rules. Fortunately, he had collected two sets. The other set, which he had washed after sweating through it while cultivating under his blanket a few days earlier, was already dry.
"I'll have to buy another robe tomorrow."
This time, he had reaped a bountiful harvest.
When he finally left the immortal ruins, he had been thinking that taking no treasures out five times in a row would spare him unwanted attention. He had simply picked up the pill dropped by the skeleton that had tried to scam him, never expecting to receive a reward of 140 points.
Adding the 36 points he had earned earlier from reselling information,
Chen Yu now had a balance of 176 points on his token.
"But compared to the immortal ruins, these points hardly amount to anything." At that thought, Chen Yu took out the ordinary-looking jade pendant. "There are countless resources in the immortal ruins. The only pity is that I need to reach Foundation Establishment before I can use them. Until then, I can only rely on whatever randomly refreshes each day."
"Once some time has passed and the fuss dies down, I'll enter the immortal ruins again and explore them properly."
He had left in a hurry this time. Chen Yu kept feeling that the immortal ruins still concealed many secrets.
The reason he would have to wait before exploring again was naturally that he had bound the jade pendant to himself. According to the contents of that sheet of paper, the immortal ruins would stop appearing from tomorrow night onward. That would inevitably draw the attention of the Dao Sect's elders.
"I should focus on cultivating!"
"The Earth Defense Art I bought with a loan, along with the Heavenly Blade Art I obtained in the immortal ruins, should be enough to get me to the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining. There's also the Wind Control martial skill."
"I'll cultivate while investigating the Outer Sect Genius Ranking."
"I still need to get onto that ranking. For one thing, I can save up the monthly reward of 30 points to repay Elder Sun's loan. For another, it'll exempt me from the monthly routine assignments."
Emerald Cloud Peak's routine assignments were utterly vile.
Chen Yu now strongly suspected that the entire purpose of those routine assignments was to put enough pressure on disciples to force them into taking out loans, then make them work for the Dao Sect their entire lives before finally refining them into spiritual essence when they could not repay their debts.
An open conspiracy.
Unless he could secure a place on the Outer Sect Genius Ranking,
with the currently available ways of earning points... there was no way out.
Although 176 points was a fair amount, with a loan hanging over him, losing nine points every month was genuinely more than he could bear.
He fetched water and washed up.
Pushing open the door,
just as Chen Yu was about to throw out the water,
he saw someone passing by.
It was the strange neighbor who lived next door.
Looking at her face, Chen Yu recalled the last time he had entered the immortal ruins at Little Bamboo Peak, when she had worn an expression of disgust, disdain, and contempt as she told him, "Hmph, you don't know your own limits!"
Yet, for some reason, when he saw his neighbor this time, she had her head lowered and seemed to have reverted to her socially anxious
self.
His movements seemed to catch her attention, and the girl instinctively turned toward him. Seeing Chen Yu's bare upper body, she froze for a moment. The next second, her cheeks rapidly puffed up like a pufferfish and turned bright red. She hurriedly lowered her head and scurried to her door with tiny steps.
She pushed the door open, then slammed it shut with a bang.
"..."
"What a strange neighbor."
"What a strange Outer Sect."
"What a strange Dao Sect."
"What a strange world."
Splash-
The water he flung out traced a semicircle through the air, then struck the ground hard, as though venting his dissatisfaction with this world of cultivation.
With a bang, Chen Yu shut his door.
Since things had come to this,
I might as well sleep first!