Marquis Li's Residence.
A large crowd of people lay prostrate on the ground—servants and lavishly dressed noblewomen alike. The scene was eerily silent, the sound of their rapid breaths clearly audible.
Chu Xingchen swept his gaze over them before letting out a soft sigh.
It seemed most of the household was gathered here.
Back then, Li Yingling had told him she was merely "not doing well." But this…
Minister Wang had already sent someone to summon him.
Yet the commotion here was far from subtle, likely alerting their target.
Still, whether he came or not hardly mattered.
If Minister Wang refused to appear, did that mean Chu Xingchen wouldn’t go to him?
A monk may flee, but the temple remains.
Chu Xingchen knew his eldest disciple well—she was unlikely to resort to wholesale slaughter.
Li Yingling had come primarily for her late mother—to give her peace and sever her last ties to this place.
As for these people? They were likely just background noise.
But whatever Li Yingling chose to do, Chu Xingchen would stand by her.
Seated in a chair, his eyes drifted over the figures below.
Behind him, Chen Baiqing sat with a frosty expression.
She had listened silently during Yingling’s conversation with their master on the way here.
Though she hadn’t spoken a word, that didn’t mean she had nothing to say.
If it were her, Chen Baiqing might have remained silent. But when it came to her senior sister being wronged? Unacceptable.
Yingling had always been kind, treating her with nothing but warmth.
She didn’t deserve this.
Chen Baiqing’s icy stare fixed on the prostrated steward. Their master was right—they had to protect everyone in their sect.
Time dragged like a blunt knife, slowly fraying the nerves of those below.
Like an executioner’s blade suspended mid-fall, stretching the torment endlessly.
Even harder to swallow was how the former "lowborn wretch" had transformed into a disciple of a prestigious sect.
In the past, though none dared lay hands on her, mocking words and sneers had flown freely.
Now, even those who had merely jeered knelt among the rest.
Wen Qing stood composed behind them, silent as time crawled by.
Until Li Yingling and Li Xingtian returned.
Li Yingling’s eyes were red-rimmed. She ignored the kneeling crowd, her gaze locking onto her master before she finally broke.
"Shifu…" she sobbed, collapsing into his arms, tears streaming down her face.
Li Xingtian’s expression was equally grim. Chu Xingchen could tell—he was genuinely furious now.
Chu Xingchen gently patted her shoulder.
"What happened? Tell me. I’ll make it right."
"I… I couldn’t… find it."
Her tears soaked his robes as he murmured, "It’s alright. I’ll help you look."
Li Yingling didn’t answer, only shaking her head faintly between sobs.
Qiu Ling entered from outside, scanning the scene before exchanging a glance with Wen Qing. A slight shake of her head confirmed the worst.
But Li Yingling’s reaction defied all expectations.
"Shifu, let’s go… I don’t want to stay here anymore," she pleaded.
To her, this place was now only pain.
She didn’t know how to face them—she couldn’t slaughter them all, not when some had merely hurled insults.
Silence followed her words.
Then Chen Baiqing’s small hand clutched her sleeve.
The girl’s lips trembled, her own eyes welling up. Seeing her senior sister hurt made her ache too.
Chu Xingchen spoke softly, "My mistake. I shouldn’t have brought you here."
Li Yingling shook her head again, wordless.
"Alright, we’ll leave. Your future achievements will make these blind fools realize what they’ve lost."
"They’ll spend their lives drowning in regret."
A faint nod, then she pulled away, turning to face Marquis Li. She stared at him for a long moment before speaking for the first time:
"Plant that mass grave with orchids."
Her mother had once murmured in her sleep—how she loved the orchids he gave her.
Yet no one had ever gifted her a single bloom.
---
At dawn the next day, Li Yingling slipped out alone from the Destiny Pavilion where the Xuanwu Kingdom had housed them.
On a hillside overlooking the mass grave, she watched Marquis Li’s servants sow orchid seeds under Wen Qing’s supervision.
She didn’t know if this was right, but she had spared them all.
Her master had spent fortunes to arrange this grand display, promising beforehand that no matter what, he’d shield her from consequences.
She’d come prepared—with a list of despised targets, plans to make them suffer.
Yet seeing them trembling on the ground brought no joy, no satisfaction.
Only a hollow, conflicted ache.
Her mother had never hated the Marquis’ household, blaming only her own weakness.
Li Yingling couldn’t bring herself to act in her mother’s name, not when it might sadden her spirit.
Perhaps the only closure was to walk away, cutting ties forever.
A thought surfaced—Mother, am I useless?
"What’s on your mind?"
Her master’s voice came from behind.
Turning, she found not just him, but her junior siblings too.
Chen Baiqing barreled into her with tiny legs.
"Don’t be sad, Senior Sister! Baiqing will buy you candy!"
Li Yingling stroked her head gently. "Alright…"
Li Xingtian, ever awkward with words, managed only:
"Senior Sister… don’t grieve too much."
She rewarded him with a bright smile.
A breeze stirred.
"Shifu!" Li Yingling inhaled deeply. "Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me!"
"Meeting you was my fortune too," Chu Xingchen replied, sincerity ringing in his voice.
Chen Baiqing piped up, "Baiqing is super lucky to have Shifu, Senior Sister, and Senior Brother too!"
Li Xingtian stayed silent, but his smile said enough.
This time, Chu Xingchen found his second disciple’s expression far more pleasing.
Li Yingling didn’t linger, soon urging them to leave the valley.
---
At the capital’s eastern market, she held Chen Baiqing’s hand before a sweetshop, buying local candies.
The Li Yingling of old seemed to have returned, cheerfully treating her junior sister.
Li Xingtian observed them quietly before glancing at his master.
After a pause, he spoke abruptly:
"Shifu, let’s dine together sometime."
Chu Xingchen stared at him, stunned.
Li Yingling and Chen Baiqing blinked in surprise.
What had gotten into the boy today?
Since when did he initiate meals?
【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.)
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
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.”
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
