Chu Feng: Disciple, You're Not a Good-for-Nothing; You Just Haven't Found the Right Path

"Master, I want a drink."

After Cao Youqian returned to the Miscellaneous Dao Institute, the first thing he did was ask Chu Feng for wine.

Without asking any questions, Chu Feng took a jar of wine from his storage pouch and handed it over.

"Here."

"Thank you, Master."

Cao Youqian took the jar of wine, turned, and left.

Watching his disciple's retreating figure, Chu Feng murmured, "Has something been troubling my youngest disciple?"

"Oh well. Disciples have their own fortunes. When he can't figure it out, he'll come talk to me."

For the next few days, Cao Youqian came to Chu Feng for wine every day.

At first, he drank one jar every three days. Later, he went through a jar a day.

If Xiao Chen hadn't stocked up a thousand jars for Chu Feng before going down the mountain, Chu Feng would have had nothing left to drink himself.

Over the next several months, Cao Youqian visibly sank into dejection.

Seeing his disciple like this, Chu Feng decided to have a heart-to-heart with him.

After all, no matter how much of a good-for-nothing Cao Youqian was, he was still his disciple.

By comparison, his eldest disciple, Xiao Chen, had broken through to the eighth level of the Dao Foundation Realm in the mere six months since he went down the mountain.

That had directly added sixty years of cultivation to Chu Feng's own.

Chu Feng now had ninety years of cultivation.

"I wonder just how strong I am now?"

Chu Feng murmured to himself, feeling an urge to pick a fight with someone.

But he quickly put the thought out of his mind. As a transmigrator, he had to put caution first. I'm still not strong enough.

Once I have a few hundred years of cultivation, or even a thousand, I'll test the waters of this world.

One day at noon, it was time for lunch.

Chu Feng said to Cao Youqian, who was drinking with his head down, "Daqian, how did you end up like this? There's not a trace of that spoiled young master left in you."

A bitter smile appeared on Cao Youqian's face. "Master, please don't tease me. I'm nothing but a homeless good-for-nothing now.

"If you hadn't taken me in, Master, I wouldn't even know where to go."

"Tell your master what happened to you."

Chu Feng asked.

Cao Youqian held nothing back. Perhaps he had kept it bottled up for too long, because he poured out all the grievances he had suffered before.

"That's it?"

After listening, Chu Feng stared at him speechlessly and asked.

"Master, haven't I suffered enough?"

Cao Youqian said with an aggrieved look.

Chu Feng smiled. "You call that suffering? Compared to your eldest senior brother, it's nothing at all."

Cao Youqian froze for a moment. On second thought, compared to his eldest senior brother, he had only suffered a little grievance. His eldest senior brother had lost all his cultivation and been expelled from the Dao-Seeking Academy.

"You're right, Master. Compared to my eldest senior brother, this little setback of mine is nothing."

Chu Feng said, "Good, you've thought it through. No more getting drunk every day. Find yourself something to do."

Cao Youqian scratched his head awkwardly. "But I don't know what to do. After all, I don't know how to do anything."

Chu Feng patted him on the shoulder. "There are no good-for-nothings in this world, only people who've chosen the wrong direction. I'll give you some time to think. Come find me when you've made up your mind."

"All right."

Cao Youqian nodded. After eating, he pulled himself together and returned to his courtyard to ponder what path he should take from here.

In the Cloud Dream Marsh.

A figure in black and another in white joined forces to slay a True Fate Realm demonic beast.

Both wore masks, so no one knew what they truly looked like.

But the cultivators passing nearby gave the two figures a wide berth.

For they were the Black and White Twin Sha, whose names were renowned throughout the Mist Marsh.

The man was the Black-Robed God of Slaughter, who had vanished for several months, and the woman was his Dao companion, the White-Clad Asura.

These two were terrifying figures who could face an adventuring party of five True Fate Realm cultivators and kill them with ease.

In the Cloud Dream Marsh, unless a Heavenly Origin cultivator intervened, no one could stop the Black and White Twin Sha.

However, Heavenly Origin cultivators generally didn't appear in the areas where the two operated.

These two were none other than Xiao Chen and Liu Yue'er.

Over the past six months, Liu Yue'er's cultivation had advanced at a remarkable pace. She was now at the ninth level of the Dao Foundation Realm, and not far from its peak.

After slaying the snake demon before him, Xiao Chen began processing its body with practiced ease.

Meanwhile, Liu Yue'er searched nearby for whatever grew alongside the demonic beast.

Before long, delight appeared on her face, and she said with a smile:

"Senior Brother, this Blackwater Black Serpent was actually guarding a stalk of Mysterious Yin Grass, and it's already borne fruit."

Xiao Chen looked over at the Mysterious Yin Grass. Several clear, translucent fruits had grown on it, and by the look of them, they had appeared within the past few days.

"Our luck's good. Mysterious Yin Grass blooms after a hundred years and bears fruit after three hundred. A Dao Foundation Realm cultivator can break through one minor realm by eating one.

"Even a True Fate Realm cultivator can gain a considerable increase in cultivation from it. This Blackwater Black Serpent was a mid-stage True Fate Realm demonic beast. If it ate these five fruits, it could have broken through to the late stage."

Liu Yue'er smiled. "Then if we eat these five fruits, can we both break through to the True Fate Realm?"

"You already have an Acquired Cold Yin Physique, so naturally you can break through to the True Fate Realm. You might even awaken a Saint Physique in the process. Even if it isn't a Saint Physique, you can still awaken an Imperial Physique."

Xiao Chen changed tack. "But I can't say the same for myself. Besides, I don't intend to use the Mysterious Yin Fruits to break through to the True Fate Realm. Reaching the ninth level of the Dao Foundation Realm will be enough."

"Why?"

Liu Yue'er hadn't expected Senior Brother Xiao to give up such a good opportunity.

Xiao Chen said, "I've run into a bit of difficulty with my cultivation recently. I plan to go back and ask Master about it, and break through in the Dao Foundation Realm at the Miscellaneous Dao Institute while I'm there."

Liu Yue'er nodded slightly and said no more.

Xiao Chen scattered the Blackwater Black Serpent's blood around the area and hung its head from a large tree to keep demonic beasts from gathering after catching the scent of the Mysterious Yin Fruits.

Seven days later.

The Mysterious Yin Fruits ripened, and Liu Yue'er picked all five. As for the Mysterious Yin Grass, she left it untouched.

During that time, some demonic beasts came over, drawn by the scent.

But when they saw the Blackwater Black Serpent's head, they chose to watch from the sidelines.

Now and then, one or two blind demonic beasts entered the Blackwater Black Serpent's territory, only to be dealt with by Xiao Chen.

As for the cultivators watching in secret, once they saw the figures in black and white, they didn't even have the courage to make a move.

After collecting the Mysterious Yin Fruits, the two immediately left the Cloud Dream Marsh on flying swords. By the following evening, they had returned to Dao-Seeking City.

Xiao Chen didn't return to the Dao-Seeking Academy right away. After exchanging the materials he carried for spirit stones and cultivation supplies,

he went back to the inn and swallowed the Mysterious Yin Fruits.

Liu Yue'er stood guard for him.

The next morning.

In the Miscellaneous Dao Institute, Chu Feng saw a completely transformed Cao Youqian.

"Disciple greets Master."

Cao Youqian bowed with utmost respect.

Chu Feng glanced at him and smiled. "You've figured things out, kid?"

"Mm."

Cao Youqian nodded.

Chu Feng asked, "What are your plans now?"

Cao Youqian said, "Master, I plan to learn cooking from you. After all, I can't do anything and don't have a shred of talent for cultivation. I might as well live happily."

Chu Feng hadn't expected his disciple to choose to lie flat. With a perfectly serious expression, he tried to hoodwink him.

"I'll say the same old thing: it's not that you lack talent for cultivation. You just haven't found the right path to cultivate."

"Master, please don't comfort me. I know my own limits. Oh, right, Master, the Miscellaneous Dao Institute's supplies are running low, aren't they? I'll go out and buy some."

After several days of thought, Cao Youqian had made up his mind to treat the Miscellaneous Dao Institute as his home from now on.

With his eldest senior brother and his master around, he could live out his life in peace.

"All right. Since you've thought it through, I won't try to persuade you."

Seeing that he couldn't hoodwink the boy, Chu Feng took more than a hundred spirit stones from his storage pouch, set them on the table, and said:

"Go buy some food. Starting today, I'll teach you how to cook."

"All right."

Cao Youqian happily picked up the spirit stones and put them in his storage pouch. His eldest senior brother had left him the pouch before departing.

After watching his disciple leave, Chu Feng went to the study, picked out a book at random, and began reading to pass the time.

Just as he was engrossed in it,

a familiar mechanical voice sounded in his mind.

"Host's eldest disciple has broken through to the ninth level of the Dao Foundation Realm. Reward: ten years of cultivation."