Originally, Liu Chun had planned to personally cover the additional cost of using the teleportation array for the extra disciple slot—one additional slot each month.
The Lingxian Sect’s trade routes were running smoothly now, and the share he received was quite substantial, so Liu Chun was still rather well-off.
He did not mind spending money on his own disciple. In his view, it was only natural for a master to spend resources on a disciple while teaching them.
Clearly, Lin Xiao did not see things the same way.
Although he knew that the relationship between masters and disciples in this world was extraordinary, he still insisted that the sect cover half the expense.
After all, the disciples were not merely Liu Chun’s disciples—they were also disciples of the Lingxian Sect. Nurturing talent was a shared goal.
The Finance Hall had no objections either.
And so, this arrangement was provisionally established. Unless something unexpected happened, it would probably continue until the day Liu Chun returned to the sect and settled down again.
With the apprenticeship ceremony over, the disciples of Qingyun Peak could finally be considered to have fully begun their lives of cultivation within the sect.
The following morning.
The Law Enforcement Hall disciple stationed at the foot of the mountain came to report that someone from the Qinghe Sect had arrived bearing gifts.
Now that the sect had recruited enough people to fill its various positions, the Law Enforcement Hall was finally able to send disciples to take turns standing guard.
According to the disciple on duty, the visitor had identified himself as the Qinghe Sect Master’s senior disciple. That meant they had to receive him with at least a little formality; they could not simply dismiss him.
Since everyone else was rather busy, the person responsible for receiving the guest was Yang Jinshu, Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall.
Because of the widely known nature of the Trial of the Heart Road, Yang Jinshu met the visitor at the Lingxian Academy located at the foot of the mountain.
“I am Yu Jie, a disciple under the Qinghe Sect Master. Greetings, Elder Yang of the Lingxian Sect.” Yu Jie rose from his seat and bowed to Yang Jinshu, who was sitting in the reception room.
Clearly, the Lingxian Sect disciple who had escorted him there had already informed him of Yang Jinshu’s identity.
“Fellow Daoist Yu, you are too polite. May I ask what brings you to the Lingxian Sect?” Yang Jinshu asked.
Yu Jie took two boxes, one large and one small, from the storage pouch at his waist. He then pointed to the small, exquisitely crafted box and said, “To be honest, Han Weishu, who joined your sect last month, is my master’s only beloved daughter. She left in such a hurry that she failed to bring many of her belongings, so my master sent me to deliver them.”
He then pointed to the larger box.
“To thank your sect for being so understanding toward Junior Sister Han and for nurturing her with such care, my master has specially prepared some gifts as a token of his appreciation.”
Hearing this, Yang Jinshu understood that the Qinghe Sect Master was really asking the Lingxian Sect to treat Han Weishu well—to be patient with her and nurture her carefully.
She swept the contents of the large box with her spiritual sense. There were some spirit stones—around five hundred—as well as several stacks of commonly used talismans and a small amount of medicinal materials.
Since the sect master was giving these gifts for his daughter, he naturally could not have taken them from the sect’s finances. They must have come from his personal treasury.
From the looks of it, the Qinghe Sect Master really did dote on his daughter.
Although the Lingxian Sect’s trade channels had been available these past few years, the prices were low, and the amount of basic talismans and other goods the sect needed was limited rather than unlimited. As a result, the three major sects had seen only a modest increase in revenue.
Moreover, most of that income had to go into the sect treasuries.
It was therefore easy to imagine that even the Qinghe Sect Master was not particularly flush.
Yet he had taken out so much merely to prepare an entrance gift. This showed just how deeply he loved his daughter.
Yang Jinshu naturally knew that the Lingxian Sect treated all its new disciples well. As a thank-you gift, the Qinghe Sect Master’s offering was neither too light nor too heavy. After thinking it over, she accepted it.
They had gone to such lengths to deliver it, so they clearly did not want it returned.
Besides, the Lingxian Sect and the Qinghe Sect occasionally interacted with each other. The value of these gifts was not enough to make returning the favor difficult. They could simply find an excuse to send a gift in return later.
Yang Jinshu thought that would be the end of the matter, but Yu Jie took another item from inside his robes and handed it to her.
“This is a letter personally written by my master. I hope Elder Yang can help deliver it to Sect Master Lin.”
Yang Jinshu reached out and accepted it. Although the envelope itself was an ordinary object, its surface was covered by a layer of sealed spiritual energy.
“I will deliver it.”
After handing over the letter, Yu Jie continued, “My master has placed a seal on the letter. Please inform Sect Master Lin that he only needs to infuse it lightly with spiritual power to break the seal and open it.”
What Yu Jie did not mention was that the seal required at least the cultivation of the Core Formation stage to open with spiritual power.
After all, the master of a sect would possess at least Core Formation cultivation. Saying so outright would have sounded somewhat insulting.
Once everything had been delivered, Yu Jie took his leave and returned to his sect.
Yang Jinshu did not ask him to stay.
After all, the Lingxian Sect did not allow strangers to enter freely.
She merely escorted him politely to the entrance of the academy before placing the two boxes and the letter into her storage pouch and taking them back to the sect.
Yang Jinshu returned to the sect through the Trial of the Heart Road.
The Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree beside the path was in full bloom. When Yang Jinshu noticed several fallen petals and leaves on the ground, she was just about to pick them up.
Suddenly, she felt as if she had overlooked something. She raised her eyes and looked toward a certain spot in the tree.
Amid the masses of blooming peach blossoms, there was one unusually dense patch of green.
It was the middle section of a branch.
Only there were there no pink flowers—only green leaves and…
Three round little fruits?!
“It actually bore fruit…” Yang Jinshu murmured involuntarily.
For the past three years, so many people had passed beneath this seemingly healthy and sturdy Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree every day. It had bloomed year after year, covering its branches with peach blossoms, yet she had never once seen it produce a single fruit!
At the sight of this, she almost forgot about the gifts sent by the Qinghe Sect. She waved over the disciple standing guard nearby and instructed him to deliver the small box to Han Weishu at Qingyun Peak. Then she immediately raised her hand and, still somewhat unfamiliar with the motions, used the Lock Ring to call someone.
The first person Yang Jinshu notified was Lin Xiao.
After all, he had personally planted the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree. No one knew it better than he did.
A short while later, Lin Xiao appeared beneath the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree at the foot of the mountain.
“Where are they, Aunt Yang? Where are the fruits?”
As he spoke, Lin Xiao’s eyes darted around.
Before Yang Jinshu could point out the location, he had already spotted the three small, emerald-green fruits nestled together.
They were covered in a fine layer of white fuzz.
They were truly, incredibly small.
Looking at them, Lin Xiao sighed with wonder. “It really did bear fruit…”
As he spoke, he reached out and gently touched them.
They were hanging quite firmly, so it seemed they would not fall off and could continue growing.
He just had no idea how long it would take before they grew large enough to eat.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
] [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!"
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
