Lingzhou Yue, who was coming back after buying wine in Dongfu City, had ridden the wind shakily as she’d roamed drunkenly in the sky above Zongzhi Mountain.
She was not exactly intoxicated.
After disguising herself and going to a new casino, she had been poisoned by her wine while drinking and gambling. Consequently, the casino was gone and she’d earned quite some money.
Entrapment: Successful!
Her disguise had not been in vain.
The only downside was that the poison had been quite potent and had drugged her to a floaty, almost delirious state.
If an ordinary person had gotten poisoned, they would have died a long time ago. However, she’d gotten addicted to it and was reluctant to expel it with her spiritual energy, thus returning to Zongzhi Mountain drowsily.
The night was charming tonight. Once she’d gotten back to the mountains, she’d smelled the aroma of meat from a long distance away.
It had felt average, merely the barbecued fragrance of tiger meat that was not yet at a cultivation level, but once the whiff entered her body, it felt as if it had turned each cell within her body into a taste bud.
In comparison, the high-tier drug in Lingzhou Yue’s system seemed dull.
This aroma was heavenly. How could she miss divinely-barbecued tiger meat like this?
Nonetheless, a Sword-Wielding Elder of the Spirit Severing level like her would be mocked if she was discovered eating mortal barbecued meat—never mind drinking.
An idea was generated by instinct.
With the status of an Elder, she would intimidate the people barbecuing the tiger and would confiscate the proof of their wrongdoing while they surrendered themselves and take it as her own. Was it a perfect plan or not?
She thought so until she heard her precious disciple’s voice.
Oh… This was her mountain…
All was well then.
Circling the mountain blearily, she went to check out what her precious disciple had been up to.
She noticed a bamboo forest, a hot spring, an orchard, a vegetable bed, a grain field, a pond, a maple jungle, cherry blossoms, and a small Sword Plain… that she seemed to have seen somewhere before. She could not remember where.
She landed dizzily just about 1.5 meters away from the barbecued tiger.
On the opposite side of the grilled animal, Xiao Ran took a glance at his master.
Her loose dark robe was draped over a magnificently-curved figure, and her gaze was slightly hazy but still laced with a stern sense of sword energy. She was wobbling a little, but her gait was sure, as though she had drunk a fake wine different from usual, the kind that was obviously drugged, but she seemed to be enjoying it.
He was not in a place to comment.
Lingzhou Yue’s gaze was on the tiger, and she was oblivious to the petite figure next to Xiao Ran that was illuminated by the flickering flame.
“A beast of extreme Yin… Where did you get this tiger?”
Xiao Ran did not have any time to answer before Jiang Chuyan went around the tiger and held Lingzhou Yue, who was swaying along with the fire. Her eyes were brimming with emotion and endless grievance when she said, “Elder Lingzhou, do you still remember Cricket Hill’s Jiang Chuyan?”
Lingzhou Yue was tipsy but once she heard the name Jiang Chuyan, she recalled a certain slim and soft waist from a certain time ago…
“Oh, that lithe waist!”
Under the flare of the flame, Chuyan raised her pretty little face.
“Elder, have you never thought of taking responsibility for Chuyan?”
Lingzhou Yue scampered away immediately, brushing off the girl’s offer to help her stand. She staggered a little, breathing a bit harder, so shocked that the hazy cloud of the poisoned wine dissipated.
This young girl was something!
Lingzhou Yue had only laid hands on her waist once, but the latter had been a goner. She’d started pestering her all day, asking her to become cultivation partners.
A woman could fool around with another woman, but was it not ridiculous for them to become cultivation partners?
Despite being mercilessly rejected, the girl still wanted to become her Direct Disciple when the new rules had come from the Cultivation Alliance.
Lingzhou Yue followed the course of fate and was the most afraid of stubborn, obsessed people.
Moreover, Jiang Chuyan was exceptionally gifted and could pick up any cultivation method easily. If news got out and people thought that she was good at teaching, the Cultivation Alliance would probably be thrusting a dozen Direct Disciples upon her.
“I have to take responsibility for touching your waist? My disciple touched my legs yesterday, and I didn’t ask him to take responsibility. If you can’t take it, I can let you touch me back. Consider it done and over with.”
Touch the Elder’s waist…
Chuyan was in a trance. Her hands were itching, but her expression seemed utterly wronged as she said, “Elder already has a disciple, so why can’t I be one too? Look, I helped Junior Brother Xiao with the makeover of the Sword-Wielding Mountain for a few hours, and this red-spotted tiger of extreme Yin is this disciple’s offer of devotion… Try it!”
Lingzhou Yue had almost forgotten what she was there for.
“What kind of cultivator still eats meat—cough… Let me taste it.”
When she tore a piece of semi-burned tiger meat and dropped it into her mouth, the scrumptiousness rippled in her mouth as if turning every cell in her body into a taste bud.
Gushes of warmth rose from the dantian and pool of Qi, making a ring-like ripple as it slowly spread and turned into a tsunami in the blink of an eye, going for the inner wall of the dantian like the sweeping wave that it was…
Meanwhile, Xiao Ran focused on barbecuing the tiger, unconcerned about his master and Chuyan’s little romance skit. He was happy to be a third wheel and rake in DP quietly.
“Congratulations, you’ve earned 1 Devotion Point!”
“Congratulations, you’ve earned 1 Devotion Point!”
“Congratulations, you’ve earned 1 Devotion Point!”
“…”
Lingzhou frowned slightly.
If this was a red-spotted tiger parallel to her level, a piece of its meat might actually upgrade her level—although she did not want that.
When she looked at Xiao Ran again, who was illuminated by the dancing flame, she thought her disciple seemed to have gotten more good-looking today.
“You know how to cook too?”
Xiao Ran nodded in passing.
“A little.”
A little?
Lingzhou Yue chewed slowly as if tasting something else instead of the tiger meat.
“The tiger first went through the resonance of a palm strike before the resonance of the sword… You killed a red-spotted tiger that’s nearly at a Qi Refining level with two techniques?”
She could see that?
Xiao Ran was alarmed but replied calmly, “Master is shrewd.”
Lingzhou Yue frowned. The Art of Resonance was this powerful?
Upon seeing that the Sword-Wielding Elder’s attention was all on Xiao Ran, Chuyan got jealous and quickly added, “This is my pet. It’s supposed to be a gift for the Sword-Wielding Elder!”
Lingzhou Yue did not appreciate the gesture.
“Your pet nearly ate my precious disciple. Besides, how could you give a pet away so easily?”
Chuyan was close to tears as she stomped her legs, the thin delicate limbs looking eye-catching.
“What must this disciple do to receive the Sword-Wielding Elder’s approval?”
Lingzhou Yue tore another piece of meat and savored it.
“Give it a try. Let me take a look at your talent.”
Troubled, Chuyan ate it with a clenched jaw for the Sword-Wielding Elder.
Then, she froze!
Such delectable taste… Such a ripple… Such warmth…
She even thought that the delicious wave would expand in her pool of Qi and become a tsunami that charged at the inner wall of her dantian to a certain breaking point and make her ascend to the Nascent Soul if this were a high-tier spiritual tiger!
Lingzhou Yue did not even peek at her talent as she said, “Alright, you’ve gotten my approval. You have enough talent and you’re adequately adorable. Your fault is that you’re too talented. You can nearly rise by one level with a bite of meat. How could my teaching standard be showcased then?”
“Uh…”
Chuyan was tongue-tied, as this was the first time she was listening to such logic.
Lingzhou Yue added, “Also, you’re too clingy. You don’t have a pure motive for coming up here. You want my body.”
Chuyan blushed at once, lowering her head under the flare and saying softly, “I’m only admiring you.”
Lingzhou Yue took a gulp of the poisoned wine, looking unfazed.
“Admiration is the farthest from understanding.”
Chuyan was dumbstruck.
She had tears she was unable to cry, and words were nowhere to be found…
Xiao Ran merely watched them as he tried the tiger as well.
The taste was marvelous, but his loser mediocrely-gifted Five-Element spiritual roots did not even twitch. No matter how much the wave rippled and spread, there was no response within him.
Aggrieved, Chuyan chomped down on the tiger. She was sobbing while she ate, her tears flowing endlessly. She thought that Xiao Hong had died a futile death, but all her right buttons were being pushed by Xiao Hong’s aroma…
Suddenly, she thought of something. As she was staring at Xiao Ran, her gaze was weak, helpless, and resentful, yet it seemed to exert a sort of pressure as it shifted to his lower half.
Upon feeling a chill in his groin area, Xiao Ran was reminded of his promise to help Chuyan.
The purer a woman was, the easier she would turn a little sick in the head after getting hurt. If he did not help her today, this girl might actually ambush his crotch one day.
She was also the main challenger of the disciple challenge. A Golden Core cultivation base was impossible to defeat for the current Xiao Ran. It would only cause him trouble if he offended her. Furthermore, the speed of her hands was amazing and she was excellent at detailed ministration. She was good to have around and a good farming tool, so she could be Xiao Ran’s handyman to help him earn DP.
Allowing her to stay on the Sword-Wielding Mountain would allow him to become a powerful presence as fast as possible.
If he helped her, however, his master would be put off by the idea of taking in disciples… What should he do?
Suddenly, Xiao Ran got a marvelous idea and said, “Master, I’d like to take in a disciple.”