After the Grand Dao Convention ended, each of the peaks and veins went about arranging themselves. The three veins of Sword Peak, Qi Peak, and Master Peak had over a dozen new disciples plus the attending chief elders and elders from each vein, and they came and went noisily.
In fact, this was also Qin Ran's first time attending the Grand Dao Convention, and he didn't really know the process. At least he didn't understand whether they were supposed to leave directly or follow a procedure after the Sect Leader announced the end of the convention. So as he hesitated, the various peaks and veins either unleashed flying techniques, or flying magical artifacts, and swiftly left the Dao Questioning Grand Hall. In the blink of an eye, in the spacious grand hall, only he and his new little disciple behind him remained. Only then did he react - oh, they just leave directly.
He looked back at the little disciple. The new little disciple stood behind him expressionlessly, as if shrouded in an icy domain. This was also his first time, and he didn't know how to handle this kind of situation. He could only clear his throat, squeeze out what he felt was a friendly smile, and ask, "What's your name?"
Yes, it was only now that he asked for the other's name...and he felt a humble sense of wanting to ask a girl for her WeChat.
"Li Shiyin," Li Shiyin said coldly. She was completely disappointed with this master, with Dan Peak.
Why? Why could he be so shabby?! Forget about elders or senior brothers or anything, why didn't he even have a single servant?!
"Oh! Li Shiyin," Qin Ran nodded. Li Shiyin's appearance made him feel like he should say something, like emphasizing how powerful he actually was, or how freeing it was to have fewer people, at least to ease the atmosphere. But he really didn't know what to say. After hesitating a moment, he still said, "Let's go."
After speaking, he headed towards the grand hall exit.
"Go...go?!" Li Shiyin was unable to react. She was stunned. "We're walking?"
Looking out from the grand hall entrance, one could still see the new disciples of Sword Peak sitting happily on their cloud boats.
"This master..." she muttered under her breath, extremely reluctant as she followed along.
The Dao Sword Sect was a small sect, with very little land area. Compared to those major sects that had small worlds within the sect, the Dao Sword Sect with its five or six mountain peaks was truly the stinky little brother among stinky little brothers.
But for some cultivators who couldn't fly, traversing between these five or six mountain peaks was still enough to give them a headache.
Like a certain Dan Peak chief who refused to reveal his name.
The Dao Questioning Grand Hall where the Grand Dao Convention was held was at Master Peak, while Dan Peak's location was to the left of Master Peak. That meant if they were walking, they would first need to go down the left side of Master Peak, then climb up Dan Peak from the right side. Ah, it wasn't very far, just calculating the time to go down this side, about two hours or so.
In front of the grand hall was a huge square used for gatherings. Because the Grand Dao Convention was being held today, the square was empty of people.
When Li Shiyin came out from the grand hall, she looked up and saw her master's lonesome figure walking across the massive square. He was neither handsome nor tall, giving her neither aesthetic appreciation nor a sense of security. On this enormous square, that lonesome figure didn't seem like a lively, handsome immortal cultivator, only like a shabby, impoverished old Daoist.
In the short few moments after taking him as master, all of her romantic imagination about cultivating immortality was thoroughly shattered. At this time, she once again had the thought of asking for a refund: "Why not just slip away? My brother is right outside anyway."
"Come quickly," but just then, seemingly noticing she had fallen too far behind, her master turned back and urged her. His delicate face carried a smile, and his voice was also very gentle.
"At least he's a good person," she sighed to herself, and still followed along. This was probably the silver lining to her misfortune.
The cultivation levels of most inner sect disciples was quite low, so there were even more people who didn't know flying techniques. Thus, the paths within the sect made for walking were built very smoothly. Not like those huge sects where people were always zipping around flying; inside their sects were like primal jungles, where people even had to speak while floating in the air during normal times.
From the bottom of Master Peak to the top of Dan Peak, there were neat stone roads the entire way, making the walking not as uncomfortable...if the sun today wasn't so blistering hot.
Halfway down Master Peak, Li Shiyin really couldn't take the heat anymore. She looked at the steady, old dog-like figure walking ahead, and finally couldn't help asking, "Master, what is your cultivation level?"
"Foundation Establishment late stage. If all goes smoothly, I'll be able to form a dan within fifty," Qin Ran replied. He turned back to look at this pretty little disciple and saw her blushing red from the heat, her entire face drenched in sweat. Only then did he react that his disciple was a girl, an ordinary person whose physical endurance might not be that good, so he kindly asked, "Would you like to rest for a bit?"
"No need." Li Shiyin declined. She silently calculated in her heart - forming a dan within fifty, it seemed this master's aptitude was still decent, it was just that his cultivation was too low... No, she suddenly realized, fifty years old? Could he really be that young?
"Master, how old are you?" She couldn't help asking.
Qin Ran felt the disdain in his disciple's tone. His face flushed slightly and he cleared his throat. Turning his body away, he lowered his voice and answered, "This seat is only twenty-five years old!"
"Twenty-five?!!!" Li Shiyin was shocked. He really was that young?
A chief at twenty-five with such low cultivation. What about the rest of Dan Peak? Where were the others?
"Dan Peak?" she hesitantly asked. "There's no one else left?"
At these words, her master who had been walking steadily and answering every question suddenly stopped and fell silent for a while. He sighed, "Ever since my master failed his tribulation five years ago, I've been the only one left at Dan Peak."
He paused, then smiled and said, "Today there's you too."
"A single person managing an entire peak?" Li Shiyin despaired. This was probably the worst peak in the world, wasn't it? For a time, she felt the road ahead was dark.
"My condolences, Master!" She hurried to offer her sympathies, not knowing if it was to comfort the master or herself.
"It's nothing!" Qin Ran laughed and shook his head. "Although my master died under the lightning of the tribulation, you needn't worry. I've done a lot of research on the heavenly tribulation. You have good aptitude; in the future you can casually increase your cultivation. I guarantee I can get you through the tribulation easily."
"Oh!" Li Shiyin responded indifferently. She didn't believe him one bit.
After walking a while longer, she suddenly recalled the question she had wanted to ask initially, and hurriedly asked again, "Master, don't you know techniques for riding clouds?"
"Ah?" This question seemed to touch a sore spot for Qin Ran. He was clearly somewhat flustered, forcibly calming himself and answering, "Of course I do! How could I not..."
"Then why don't we ride a cloud back?" Li Shiyin coldly cut in.
"Ah, well..." Qin Ran didn't know how to bluff his way through...ah no, explain this. All kinds of strange words swirled in his mouth, saying things like "walking is good exercise for the body and mind", "zipping around damages our image", "the high altitude is too dangerous, what if we fall", and so on. In short, he evaded the question of "why don't we ride a cloud back?"
As Li Shiyin listened, intelligent as she was, she picked up on the key words "the high altitude is too dangerous, what if we fall?" She looked at the young master in front of her with a strange expression. As a cultivator, could he really be afraid of heights?
Her disciple's gaze made Qin Ran extremely uncomfortable. He lowered his head and repeatedly said, "Let's hurry, let's hurry. It's getting late, there are still things to do when we get back!"
Li Shiyin lifted her head to look at the sun still high in the sky, feeling this master was adorably strange for some reason... No, this master was a bit special.
or! A blessing for those who struggle with love, a guidebook for dating novices. Quickly match with your dream goddess! Complete walkthroughs earn rewards, and perfect walkthroughs unlock limited achievements!】 Shen Yi, an ordinary office worker, accidentally downloads a mini-game called Dating Simulator. The mini-game is simple: randomly search for dating targets, simulate dates, and receive rewards upon successful confession. Rewards include but are not limited to money, attributes, and skills. The higher the evaluation, the better the rewards, with perfect ratings unlocking mysterious achievements. Shen Yi plans to use this mysterious mini-game to continuously pursue targets and improve himself, making his life better and better. ...... However, after several successful walkthroughs, Shen Yi suddenly notices something strange - the targets he previously simulated dating seem to be searching for him in real life?
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
