When Li Shiyin came out from the research building, she saw Qin Ran holding a hoe, digging the ground by the riverbank, right next to that patch of lush unrecognizable grass.
She walked over and asked from across the river, "Master, what are you planting?"
"Planting some Crane Crown Immortal Grass..." Qin Ran replied briefly, put down the hoe, took out a porcelain bottle from his Universe Bag, shook it and poured out a few milky white seeds with black dots. He spread them out to show Li Shiyin and explained, "These are Crane Crown Immortal Grass seeds. They are expensive. Just this one bottle has less than fifty seeds but costs ten low-grade Spirit Stones."
Li Shiyin knew Spirit Stones were precious. They were basically impossible to find in the mortal world. The fact that just a few seeds cost ten Spirit Stones surprised her. She asked again, "What is this Crane Crown Immortal Grass used for? Is it very valuable?"
"Crane Crown Immortal Grass. When mature, the tips of the grass bend down and turn white, looking like a crane's head, very beautiful," Qin Ran answered. "It is one of the three main ingredients for refining Foundation Establishing Pill, so naturally very precious."
"Foundation Establishing Pill?"
"Some cultivators are not talented and may be unable to build their foundations. Foundation Establishing Pill greatly increases their chances of doing so." Qin Ran patiently explained.
Li Shiyin nodded. She pointed at the lush grass next to Qin Ran and asked, "What immortal grass is this then?"
Qin Ran's expression changed almost imperceptibly as he glanced over. He replied, "This is Awaken Spirit Grass."
"What is Awaken Spirit Grass used for?"
"Awaken Spirit Grass..." Awaken Spirit Grass was used to refine Soul Fusion Pill, but Qin Ran didn't say that. He only said, "Awaken Spirit Grass is very good for one's soul."
"Oh!" Li Shiyin didn't notice Qin Ran's strange behavior. She smiled and said, "So immortal grass is planted like this too. My father plants flowers the same way at home."
"Don't think too highly of immortal grass. For example, Awaken Spirit Grass doesn't have high requirements for the environment and can indeed be planted like this," Qin Ran casually explained. He squatted down, planted a Crane Crown Immortal Grass seed in the hole he just dug, and further explained to Li Shiyin, "This is something I made specially, let's just call it Spirit Water for now. I extracted nutrients that plants need into the water along with Spirit Stones."
After putting away the "Spirit Water", he smiled and said, "I'm just experimenting to see if I can grow immortal grass with just Spirit Water and without Spirit Soil.
Master is so knowledgeable! So amazing! So incredible! Li Shiyin yelled in admiration in her heart once again.
"Right..." Qin Ran stood up, lightly covered the seed with soil using the hoe, and asked Li Shiyin as he did so, "How much have you read of the book I gave you yesterday?"
Li Shiyin's admiration immediately disappeared. She looked away awkwardly.
Seeing her reaction, Qin Ran naturally understood. He didn't pursue the issue further. After covering the seed with soil, he stuck the hoe into the ground nearby and went to the river to wash his hands.
"If you don't understand meridian pathways, acupoint locations, naturally you won't be able to cultivate..." He soaked his hands in the cool river water and said, "I mean you won't be able to cultivate, not that you can't concoct pills. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Can't concoct pills? Can't cultivate?" Li Shiyin didn't understand and shook her head.
Qin Ran sighed inwardly, thinking he had accepted an idiot apprentice. Why did he feel like she was a aloof goddess yesterday? After just one day, her stupidity was making him collapse.
He patiently explained, "If you can't cultivate, perhaps you can sense the qi in your body, the spiritual qi between heaven and earth, but you won't be able to mobilize them! You don't understand any of this?"
"But Master..." Looking at Qin Ran's expression of collapse and speechlessness, Li Shiyin didn't dare speak loudly. She said softly, "I can already mobilize the innate qi in my body."
"Huh?" Qin Ran was surprised, thinking he had misheard. He then felt Li Shiyin was lying to him and really got angry. "Tell me, how do you mobilize the qi between heaven and earth?"
"Just...like the book said, take the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture, press the tongue to the palate, close the eyes, direct your consciousness from the space between the eyebrows to the body and limbs, imagine you can feel qi flowing, just like that..." Li Shiyin weakly replied. She closed her eyes as if mobilizing the innate qi in her body, "There really is a stream of qi flowing in my body, starting from, Master said, the qi sea, to here..." She pointed at her left ribs, "to Tanzhong acupoint, then to my left hand..."
She pointed out for Qin Ran one by one, entering from the left hand, exiting from the left hand, entering from the right hand, exiting from the right hand, and finally returning to the qi sea, a perfect cycle.
Seeing Li Shiyin's manner, Qin Ran realized she was probably not lying and had indeed started cultivating. He immediately crossed the river to her side and unceremoniously grabbed her wrist to carefully examine. He discovered there really was a flow of qi moving in her body according to the basic cultivation technique's flow path.
He opened his eyes wide in disbelief and asked, "You... Have you cultivated before or..."
"Master, didn't you give me the Basic Cultivation Technique last night?" Looking at her wrist grabbed by Qin Ran, Li Shiyin didn't know what she was thinking. She said, "I couldn't sleep last night, so I practiced following the book. Then I had that qi sensation and guided it to flow in my body, just like the diagrams in the book, very simple. Master, you said I wouldn't be able to cultivate without knowing about meridians and acupoints, so I was a little scared... Did I practice wrongly and would deviate?"
"No...no..." Qin Ran let go of Li Shiyin's hand, starting to doubt life. "You didn't practice wrongly. You did very well. After you open the Ren and Du Channels and sense the spiritual qi between heaven and earth, you can condense qi cyclones and start building your foundation."
Li Shiyin clearly knew nothing about meridians and acupoints. How could she so smoothly gain a qi sensation and mobilize the qi flow so correctly? He didn't really understand. Could it be that this apprentice was pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger, appearing to be silly but actually very crafty?
"Master..." Just as he was doubting life and doubting Li Shiyin, she suddenly called him again.
He looked over expressionlessly.
Li Shiyin lowered her head and softly asked, "Master, can you concoct pills to prolong life and increase longevity?"
"I haven't concocted any before," Qin Ran truthfully replied. The materials for such longevity pills were generally very expensive. He couldn't afford them.
"Oh!" Li Shiyin sounded a little disappointed.
Seeing her reaction, Qin Ran inexplicably added, "But I have studied them before. If I have a pill formula and materials, I believe I can also concoct them."
"Really?" Li Shiyin instantly became happy again.
"Really."
"Then..." Taking advantage of her courage, Li Shiyin continued asking, "If I practice the sword, do I have to go to Sword Peak?"
Qin Ran's heart stirred upon hearing this. He looked at Li Shiyin and saw her pair of bright eyes staring expectantly at him.
"If..." But he still replied, "If you want to achieve more in the sword, it's best to go to Sword Peak. I cultivate pill dao after all."
"Oh..."
agon king storylines. At the start, I obtained the "Ultimate Lackey System" - the more I act as a lackey, the stronger I become. What else could I do? I chose to become the personal henchman of the ultimate villain, Su Muwan. I provoke all sorts of chosen ones, snatch away their opportunities, and commit every evil deed imaginable. You ask who's behind me? Hmph! You're not worthy of knowing my lady's name! ...... ....... I am Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Since childhood, I've possessed extraordinary talent in martial arts, which led to my arrogant and domineering personality in my past life. I was even foolish enough to repeatedly challenge those favored by heaven, ultimately resulting in a tragic death. In this life, I must behave and absolutely cannot walk the same path again!! However... SLAP!! "So you're the Dragon King, huh?!" When I saw my little lackey swagger over and viciously slap the Dragon King who was hiding his identity, I felt my heart sink. Su Muwan's suspended heart finally died as she watched Qin Luo, her utterly loyal lackey, standing before her. She fainted on the spot from shock. Heaven is determined to destroy me!! (Pure love 1v1, light-hearted, no angst, single female lead, villain, reincarnation, lackey)
【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.)
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.”
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
