「Nine years ago.」
Luo Binglan, after divining her fortune on Spirit Turtle Peak, excitedly rushed to Demon Sea Island in the East Sea, claiming she was on a quest for some extraordinary opportunity. As a result, she plunged headfirst into the Demon Race’s stronghold and was surrounded by over a dozen Saint Manifestation stage old demons.
That battle was utterly tragic. The so-called ’Unrivaled Dominatrix’ of Spirit Turtle Peak was reputed to be unbeatable among her peers, but she was beaten so badly she nearly lost her life. She had to spend almost all of her lifespan just to carve a bloody path and escape.
After returning, she dived straight into a coffin and buried herself in the ancestral tombs on the rear mountain of Spirit Turtle Peak, entering a deep slumber to heal her injuries. Since then, no one ever saw Luo Binglan again. Even Wang Xiu could only chat with his "convenient" master for a few moments each year during the Qingming Festival when he went to burn paper offerings at her grave. The rest of the time, he was like an orphan, completely unable to contact her.
In light of this, numerous people clapped their hands in... mourning. This also made the reputation of the Divination Sect stink even worse than before.
This lineage... when ruthless, they’ll even scam themselves!
...
Burdened with the title ’Head True Disciple of the Divination Sect,’ one could only imagine the treatment Wang Xiu received within the Sanqing Immortal Sect. He was unloved and unwanted. Apart from a monthly allowance of Spirit Stones, he received almost none of the guidance or benefits other True Disciples were entitled to.
After all, he couldn’t very well dig his convenient master out of her ancestral grave every time he hit a bottleneck in his cultivation, could he?
That would be a tad presumptuous.
Under this ’orphan-style’ of completely hands-off nurturing, Wang Xiu only reached the seventh level of Qi Refinement at the ripe old age of fifteen. Among the True Disciples of the Sanqing Immortal Sect, he was at the bottom of the barrel.
Fortunately, half a month ago, Wang Xiu had bound himself to a System. With the System active, as long as he heard someone boasting nearby, he could directly receive various rewards and continuously improve his cultivation and strength. So, in just half a month, Wang Xiu’s Cultivation Level surged from the seventh level of Qi Refinement to the second level of Foundation Establishment.
One could say that this rate of breakthrough, even within the entire Sanqing Immortal Sect, let alone the entire Cultivation World, was absolutely explosive.
...
HUMMM!
Just as Wang Xiu had consolidated his Cultivation Level and was preparing to wander the streets for more boasting, the Communication Jade Talisman at his waist began to vibrate. He took it off and activated it with a spell. Instantly, a ray of clear light shot out from the talisman, materializing into a half-foot square Xuan Guang Mirror in front of him.
Within the Xuan Guang Mirror, a woman with a cold temperament spoke helplessly, "Junior Brother Wang Xiu, if you don’t return to the mountain soon, you’ll be marked as having failed your mission."
For the past eight hundred years, the world had not been peaceful. The Righteous Path and Demon Cultivators were in constant conflict, and in regions far from the influence of the Immortal Sects, massacres that wiped out entire cities and clans were common. The Sanqing Immortal Sect, situated in Lujiang Prefecture of Nanzhou, upheld the principle of saving the common people with the sword and eradicating all evil. Even though their strength had been greatly diminished, they remained resolute.
This conviction caused the Sanqing Immortal Sect to be hated and targeted by countless heretics and Evil Demons. For hundreds of years, a great number of the sect’s disciples had been ambushed and attacked in retaliation while they were out on training expeditions.
Therefore, whenever disciples of the Sanqing Immortal Sect went out for training, they typically traveled in groups. Upon completing their mission, they were expected to return promptly to the mountain to minimize any potential dangers.
However, as the ’lone orphan’ of the Divination Sect from Spirit Turtle Peak, Wang Xiu certainly couldn’t lug his master’s coffin down the mountain with him. Moreover, disciples from other branches kept the Divination Sect at a distance, completely unwilling to interact with its members, let alone team up with Wang Xiu for training. Thus, in order to hear people boast, Wang Xiu could only venture down the mountain alone to grind for points.
He didn’t dare stray too far from the Immortal Sect, mostly staying within the towns and cities nearby. Even the most audacious demons and spirits would never dare to cause trouble in these places. After all, since the mass collapse of the Spirit Stone Veins, the Elders and disciples of the Sanqing Immortal Sect were practically driven mad by poverty. They had to split a single Spirit Stone in two just to make it last.
To them, seeing a demon or evil spirit was like seeing a walking bounty, a pile of Spirit Stones, and a heap of Sect Contribution Points. Their eyes would glow green with greed as they howled and charged forward. In a place crawling with such desperate Taoists, even a Ghost King would arrive shaking in his boots.
After disconnecting the Xuan Guang Mirror, Wang Xiu formed a hand seal, and a green light shot out from his sleeve. It transformed into a palm-sized tortoiseshell that spun rapidly before him. As it spun, it expanded, and within a few breaths, it grew to the size of a millstone. Wang Xiu leaped onto it.
WHOOSH!
The next second, the tortoiseshell shot into the sky, streaking across the heavens as a blur of green light, moving so fast that not even an afterimage could be seen.
It was the Black Tortoise Mirror, a protective Magic Artifact his convenient master had left him before her burial. Although it was only a top-grade Magic Artifact, its flight speed was comparable to many Spiritual Artifacts. Its low energy consumption made it the undisputed best choice for travel and training expeditions.
...
About half an incense stick later, Wang Xiu’s tortoiseshell came to a stop before the Task Hall. This was the most bustling place in the entire Sanqing Immortal Sect, with countless people coming and going every day.
"Senior Sister Qingyu, I’m here to turn in my mission," Wang Xiu said as he walked up to the mission counter, smiling as he produced the mission scroll and an exquisite jade box. "Senior Sister, I found this little something down the mountain. It’s not worth much, but it’ll definitely look gorgeous on you. You’ll be fatally enchanting!"
With that, he opened the jade box. Inside were several exquisite jade hairpins, some Rouge, and jade rollers. They had no spiritual energy fluctuations and were indeed of little value to a Cultivator. However, the jewelry’s craftsmanship was truly refined, and it looked like it had been chosen with great care.
"You and your sweet talk," teased Xiao Qingyu, a True Disciple herself, covering her mouth as she giggled. She looked at this junior brother, who, at only fifteen, had already been voted the most handsome of all the True Disciples by countless senior sisters. Her heart felt a mix of pleasure and vexation.
According to the rules of the Task Hall, as a True Disciple, she was responsible for handling the missions of other True Disciples. But what kind of missions did this guy, Wang Xiu, take on day after day?
Checking the Feng Shui for the Zhang Family? Performing a ritual for the Li Family? Calculating marriage prospects for the Liu Family? Reading the birth chart for the Zhao Family?
Although the sect had been in dire financial straits for the last few centuries, the Sect Leader had called for self-sufficiency and earning wealth through hard work. Making money is nothing to be ashamed of. Even services once looked down upon—funerals, Feng Shui, matchmaking, and religious rites—were now accepted without question. In fact, if you offered a high enough price, you could even hire a group of Sanqing Taoists to perform a flying sword show at your wedding, using the Five Elements Divine Thunder as fireworks.
But did these tasks really require a True Disciple? Couldn’t the sect just send one or two Recorded Disciples? A dignified True Disciple of the Sanqing Immortal Sect should be out capturing demons or subduing monsters. Reading Feng Shui and birth charts not only lowered the prestige of the sect’s True Disciples, but it also severely devalued that prestige!
Moreover, every time he completed a mission, Wang Xiu would dilly-dally at the foot of the mountain, delaying his return. Sometimes, if Xiao Qingyu didn’t send a message to remind him, he would let the mission deadline pass!
What a character. It’s one thing for him to miss out on the reward, but even I get affected. After all, as the mission dispatcher, it’s my responsibility to assign the right missions to the right disciples. Every failed mission is a mark on my record. If a mission fails because it was too difficult or due to an accident, that’s one thing. But for a mission like this—reading a birth chart or checking Feng Shui—to fail because it was overdue... It’s ridiculous!
Xiao Qingyu seriously suspected that he was just using missions as an excuse to escape the boredom of the mountain and indulge in the mortal world. After all, it was common knowledge that the Sanqing Immortal Sect provided a subsidy to each of its major branches. Although Spirit Turtle Peak’s subsidy was meager—only 100 Spirit Stones a month, weighing about ten taels—the Divination Sect consisted of him alone.
This kid gets ten taels’ worth of Spirit Stones every month for doing absolutely nothing. He can easily exchange that for 100 taels of gold or 1,000 taels of silver. He’s practically rolling in wealth. If he really wanted to give up on himself, he has more than enough to live a carefree life down the mountain forever.
After several overdue missions, the esteemed True Disciple Xiao Qingyu had developed a habit. Before starting her duties each day, she would check the deadline for Wang Xiu’s mission. If it was about to expire, she would immediately send him a message, urging him to return and submit it.
Good grief. My own mother wasn’t even this enthusiastic when nagging my father to bring his paycheck home!
"Senior Sister," Wang Xiu grinned, "are there any more missions in the nearby towns? Preferably things like Feng Shui, grave relocation, or reading birth charts. I’m quite interested in those."
Interested?
Wang Xiu was taken aback. "Why not?"
Xiao Qingyu replied teasingly, "It’s the triennial disciple recruitment conference. All the major branches have to set up their banners at Seeking Dao Peak to recruit new members. The Divination Sect only has you, its single sprout. If you don’t go, who will?"
The recruitment conference? Hearing those words, Wang Xiu’s face fell. "Can I not go?"
He had been representing the Divination Sect at the triennial conference ever since he was six. Three years passed, then another three, and another. It had been nine years, and he hadn’t recruited a single new member. Instead, he just got pointed at and whispered about by disciples from the other branches every time.
This event is just asking for misery!
Xiao Qingyu’s eyes filled with sympathy. "I understand your difficulty, but there’s no way around it."
She added, "After all, you wouldn’t want the sect to dissolve the Divination Sect and take away your monthly subsidy of 100 Spirit Stones, right?"
Wang Xiu sucked in a sharp breath, his body trembling. He forced a smile that was uglier than a grimace. "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister. I understand."
It’s about making money! Nothing to be ashamed of!
Xiao Qingyu smiled and patted his shoulder. "Actually, the recruitment conference is really just about each branch wildly boasting to trick the new disciples. If you lay it on a bit thick, you might be able to fool a few new disciples into joining Spirit Turtle Peak to keep you company!"
CRACK!
It was as if a bolt of lightning struck inside Wang Xiu’s mind. "Senior Sister, what did you just say?"
Xiao Qingyu paused. "Fool a few new disciples into joining Spirit Turtle Peak to keep you company?"
Wang Xiu shook his head. "No, the sentence before that."
Xiao Qingyu was exasperated. "The recruitment conference is just all the major branches wildly boasting to trick the new disciples?"
All the major branches tricking new disciples by wildly boasting?
Perfect!!!
An unprecedented light of passion flared in Wang Xiu’s eyes.
This conference sounds like a huge boasting competition! I’m so pumped!