The system found time to glance at Long Aoxiang and reread the plot surrounding his entrance into the sect.
“Host, it is too early to celebrate. After joining, the male lead often visits the Sword Intent Hall to bother the heroine. Many later events happen only because he keeps approaching her.”
The amusement vanished from Mu Yunran’s eyes.
“I know. Xie Tian wanted the male lead and Big Sister Qingran to meet often, so she invented a close friendship between the Sword Energy and Sword Intent Halls. Their disciples frequently visit one another. That gives Long Aoxiang opportunities to approach Big Sister Qingran. He’s skilled at pretending to be obedient and deceiving people, so Uncle Lingyunzi truly believes he comes to the Sword Intent Hall for friendly sparring.”
Everyone belonged to the same sect. Sparring with friends could bring insight and advance a person’s cultivation, so the Clearcloud Sect did more than allow such matches. It encouraged them.
Long Aoxiang exploited this custom. Whenever he had free time, he visited another mountain. He claimed to seek sparring partners while actually chasing women.
The system fell silent. Its host had already adapted to this world, while it seemed to become more useless by the day.
Depressed, it returned to its novels and told Mu Yunran to call only if she needed something.
A Sword Energy Hall disciple dragged Long Aoxiang away. He looked back at the sacred tree in frustration and tried to say more. His mouth had barely opened when he noticed the disciple’s warning glare and closed it again.
Whether the Sword Energy Hall wanted him or not, his placement was settled. The sacred tree’s decisions were absolute. Not even the Clearcloud sect leader could defy them.
From now on, Long Aoxiang’s every word and action would affect the honor of the Sword Energy Hall.
“Stand properly and behave. Do not disgrace our hall.”
The disciple’s face was cold, and the authority of a senior brother entered his voice. Realizing he had acted foolishly, Long Aoxiang obediently apologized.
The second stage continued. Fewer than half of those who passed the first trial were permitted to remain.
Shi Wan joined the Sword Intent Hall and became Lingyunzi’s disciple.
Mu Yunran was the final applicant. Every gaze settled on her, creating the strange illusion that she—not Long Aoxiang—was the protagonist of this world.
A leaf fell from the Cloudblossom Tree and rode the wind to the top of her head. Mu Yunran took it down, carefully put it away, and bowed.
Words appeared upon the tree:
*Do not be nervous. You are a good child. You will stay.*
The sacred tree understood people’s hearts. It had occasionally answered before a question was asked. The last person to receive such treatment had been Xiao Zizai, the current sect leader, when he first joined.
Joy filled Lingyunzi. The Clearcloud Sect had found a treasure.
He hoped the child would enter the Sword Intent Hall and call him Master.
“Sacred Tree, please show me my path.”
Unlike with the earlier applicants, brilliant light did not flood the trunk. Pale-pink radiance gathered and slowly wrote each word, stroke by stroke.
*Mu Yunran. Sword Intent Hall. Cultivate the sword. Master: Chiguzi.*
Lingyunzi’s expression stiffened. He stared at Chiguzi’s name in disbelief and, for the first time, wondered whether the sacred tree had made a mistake.
Chiguzi was his junior martial brother. In all his decades at the Clearcloud Sect, he had never accepted a disciple. He was an alchemy-obsessed pill-refining genius but disliked cultivation, leaving his cultivation far below Lingyunzi’s even though they had entered the sect at the same time.
Lingyunzi rubbed his eyes and read the answer again. Why would the sacred tree order a pill refiner to teach Mu Yunran the sword?
Worse, Chiguzi was lazy. He worked hard only while farming. In every other matter, he had all the energy of mud lying in a puddle.
Lingyunzi’s head began to ache. A gifted child like Mu Yunran was about to receive an odd and idle master.
The decision could not be changed. He directed Mu Yunran to stand behind Shi Wan, then ordered the representatives from each hall to take charge of their new disciples.
Lingyunzi led the Sword Intent group back to their mountain. At that moment, the newcomers officially became members of the sect. Their names, masters, spiritual roots, and primary paths would all be entered into the register.
Every new arrival began as an outer disciple. Their master-acceptance ceremonies would be held the next day.
Only a little over one thousand people had passed both trials. Once divided among the halls, barely two hundred came to the Sword Intent Hall.
A small number became Lingyunzi’s disciples. Most were assigned to other elders.
After completing the registration, Lingyunzi arranged their rooms. Outer disciples lived separately from inner disciples and received poorer treatment. Their residences were also divided by gender.
Mu Yunran was about to accompany Shi Wan to the outer women’s residence when Lingyunzi stopped her.
After saying goodbye to Shi Wan, she followed him toward the inner grounds.
He explained along the way.
“Your master, Chiguzi, lives alone in a small courtyard here. You are his first disciple. His temperament is unusual, and he probably won’t teach as formally as the rest of us. Asking him to travel to the outer grounds for your lessons would be impossible. So I decided you should simply live near him. His courtyard has two brick houses—one for each of you.”
Mu Yunran felt darkness covering the road ahead. Failing to become Lingyunzi’s disciple was bad enough. Why had she received a master who did not know how to teach?
She understood perfectly well that Lingyunzi’s description of Chiguzi was already very polite.
He pushed open a wooden gate and led her into the courtyard.
The place stood some distance from the main inner building. It was quiet, and few people normally visited.
Inside, a man in green wore a straw hat and a white towel around his neck while shelling corn.
The arrival of two people did not distract him. He finished one ear, tossed the bare cob into another basin, and began shelling the next.
A plump pink piglet with a tiny topknot trotted toward the basin of corncobs and jumped inside. Grunts and chewing noises rose from it.
“Eat less, Ahua. Look how fat you are. You’re nearly as big as the pigs sent to restaurants outside.”
The piglet stopped chewing, plainly offended. It leaped from the basin, kicked the straw hat off his head with one hoof, and landed elegantly. Then it picked up its half-eaten corncob and walked away.
“Ahua’s temper gets worse every day. I’ll have to ask her mother to discipline her!”
The man took a large pot and several ingredients from his storage pouch, started a fire, and began cooking.
“Senior Brother, little girl, stop standing there. Come eat something.”
Lingyunzi’s face darkened. Every time he saw his junior martial brother, the man looked less like a cultivator.
Usually, only a few old friends witnessed this behavior. But now a brand-new disciple had seen it. How was Chiguzi supposed to command respect as her master?
Mu Yunran was shocked by the scene. She reminded herself that this was a cultivation world. A little absurdity was normal.
A cultivator having his hat kicked off by his own pig was normal. A cultivator loving farmwork was normal. A cultivator producing an enormous pot and beginning to cook hotpot was also completely normal!
Chiguzi sent two sets of bowls and chopsticks floating into Lingyunzi’s and Mu Yunran’s hands.
“Eat first. Afterward, we can all farm together!”
