I Am Your Father

Lin Xiaolu, Xiao Yuer, and Li Miaoxin walked down a stone stairway and arrived at a large courtyard.

Unlike before, there were quite a few people coming and going here, making it seem very lively.

"This is the dining hall where we take our meals. Junior brothers and sisters can come here directly when you're hungry," Li Miaoxin enthusiastically introduced.

Lin Xiaolu looked at the men and women entering and leaving the courtyard, then asked in confusion, "Senior sister, didn't you say our Star Plucking Branch didn't have many disciples? Who are these people?"

"They are outer sect disciples of Emei who usually live at the foot of the mountain," Li Miaoxin explained. "Emei's Nine Veins and Ten Peaks each have a large number of outer sect disciples."

As she spoke, Li Miaoxin led the siblings into the courtyard.

It seemed to be mealtime now. The courtyard was filled with so-called outer sect disciples sitting around randomly. When they saw Li Miaoxin, their faces all showed a hint of awe.

"Sister, those people seem a bit afraid of you," Xiao Yuer asked curiously.

"That's because we're inner sect disciples," Li Miaoxin laughed and explained, "Emei has strict hierarchies. Unless someone has exceptional talent, everyone starts out as an outer sect disciple. Outer sect disciples can only be promoted to inner sect disciples by ranking in the top three in the annual sect trials."

"So are my sister and I outer or inner sect disciples?" Lin Xiaolu asked.

"Of course you're inner sect disciples," Li Miaoxin laughed again. "You were personally accepted by our Grand Master, so you're directly inner sect disciples. You don't need to do any chores, just focus on cultivating well. At Emei, outer sect disciples start recruiting at sixteen, while inner sect disciples are different. There will be some like you who have talent and become inner sect disciples at a young age."

"Oh, I see," Lin Xiaolu nodded satisfactorily.

I'm indeed leadership material, starting off higher than others by directly becoming an inner sect disciple, hahaha!

Seeing the boy standing there tilting his head back and laughing foolishly, Li Miaoxin felt somewhat exasperated. She warned,

"Junior brother, even though you're an inner sect disciple, you can't be lazy. Starting tomorrow, if you can't reach the Qi Condensation Realm within a year, even if you're personally accepted by the Grand Master, you'll be demoted to an outer sect disciple."

"Hahahaha—"

The boy's laughter stopped abruptly. As if nothing had happened, he followed Li Miaoxin upstairs to the dining area reserved for inner sect disciples.

Soon, the three arrived on the elegantly furnished second floor. As soon as they got there, a young attendant in light green robes eagerly came running over.

"Greetings, Senior Sister Miaoxin," he greeted obsequiously with a smiling face. "When junior brother woke up this morning and saw the magpies chirping outside the window, I knew it must be Senior Sister Miaoxin coming for a meal. Please forgive me for not coming out to greet you earlier."

Li Miaoxin smiled behind her hand at his jest. "Hou Saner, stop flattering and spend that effort on cultivating instead. You would've been promoted to inner sect disciple long ago." Then she introduced the siblings to him, "These two are my Grand Master's newly accepted disciples, Junior Brother Lin Xiaolu and Junior Sister Xiao Yuer. Take good care of them in the future, and don't slight them."

When Hou Saner heard this, he quickly bowed respectfully to the siblings, "Outer sect disciple Hou Saner greets Senior Brother Lin Xiaolu and Senior Sister Xiao Yuer."

Xiao Yuer looked timidly at Hou Saner. The little girl shrank behind Li Miaoxin as if she was a frightened animal cub, making Li Miaoxin exclaim at how cute she was.

Lin Xiaolu wasn't as afraid. Seeing the monkey-like creature show him respect, he immediately struck a pretentious pose, tilting his head back arrogantly, "Not bad, little fella. You can follow me from now on."

Hou Saner was taken aback. Li Miaoxin nearly burst out laughing too. Her little junior brother really was too amusing.

The seven-year-old Lin Xiaolu continued to arrogantly smile at Hou Saner, "Come on, call me big brother!"

Seeing the little senior brother who only came up to his thighs, Hou Saner hesitated slightly before responding awkwardly, "Big...big brother."

"Mm-hmm," Lin Xiaolu nodded contentedly with a silly crooked smile. "From now on you'll roll with me. If anyone bullies you, just report my name, Lin Xiaolu, hahaha!"

Li Miaoxin was tickled seeing this scene, barely able to hold in her laughter until her face turned red. After taking a few deep breaths, she interrupted Lin Xiaolu's crazed laughter and told Hou Saner, "Bring a few servings of spirit food to my private room. Remember, make it soft. My junior sister is young and can't eat anything too hard."

"Yes ma'am! Esteemed seniors, please come this way," Hou Saner replied.

The siblings followed Li Miaoxin into an elegant private room. As soon as they entered, Lin Xiaolu curiously asked, "Senior sister, what is spirit food?"

"Spirit food is nourished with spiritual energy. Eating it regularly is very beneficial for our cultivation," Li Miaoxin explained unhurriedly. "Outer sect disciples only get spirit food once a month, while inner sect disciples can have it daily. Additional servings need to be exchanged with contribution points."

"What are contribution points then?" Lin Xiaolu continued asking.

"Contribution points are awarded for contributing to the sect. Aside from cultivating, we can also take on sect missions to earn contribution points. Then we can exchange them for things we want like spirit stones, artifacts, martial arts manuals, etc."

The siblings were a bit lost listening to all this. They were too young to fully understand these things, though they were more interested in the food.

In the village, they rarely even got to eat meat, let alone something called spirit food. Just hearing about it made them feel it wouldn't be bad, so they eagerly anticipated it.

Just as they were waiting expectantly, a shrill laugh suddenly came from outside the room.

"Junior Sister Miaoxin."

A tall, thin cultivator in cyan robes entered with a group of frivolous-looking cultivators.

As soon as he entered, the thin cultivator eagerly sneered, "Junior Sister Miaoxin, I heard that after twenty years, your Star Plucking Branch finally accepted two disciples. I came to see what kind of prodigies they are to catch your branch's eye."

As he finished speaking, the other cultivators behind him burst into loud laughter.

Li Miaoxin's fine brows knitted together as she looked at them.

Although she was unwilling to admit it, the Star Plucking Branch had always been a laughing stock of Emei.

There was no choice, her Grand Master was the strongest of the Nine Veins' Elders, but he was lazy by nature. Plus the core martial arts of the Star Plucking Branch were too difficult to learn, so they hadn't taken on new disciples for over twenty years.

But she still wouldn't allow others to insult Star Plucking. Right now she frowned and coldly retorted, "Elder Brother Zhao, since when do I need your approval for my Grand Master's acceptance of disciples?"

"No no no, Junior Sister, don't misunderstand," the thin cultivator quickly waved his hands. "We brothers of the Nine Infants Branch are just very curious. Star Plucking hasn't had disciples for twenty years, yet suddenly there are two new ones. How could I not come see what's going on? I brought my junior brothers to broaden their horizons."

After speaking, he looked at the timid Xiao Yuer, then at Lin Xiaolu, and asked with a smile, "Are you two Star Plucking Branch's new disciples?"

Right after asking, his smile disappeared as he suddenly yelled, "Dongfang Dan!"

"I'm here, Senior Brother!"

From the crowd behind pushed out a chubby boy who looked around ten years old.

The chubby boy's face was full of fat. He squinted at them with triangular eyes, his whole body looking like a meatball. Even the fat on his chin jiggled when he walked.

The thin cultivator put his arm around the chubby boy's shoulder and smiled at Li Miaoxin, "This is my Grand Master's newly accepted disciple, Dongfang Dan. He was born with an Earth Spirit Root."

Li Miaoxin was shocked to hear this. She looked at the unremarkable fat boy in surprise. A genius with an Earth Spirit Root was accepted by the Nine Infants Branch?

Seeing her shock, the arrogance in the thin cultivator's eyes grew thicker. He looked at Lin Xiaolu and laughed mockingly, "Little Dan, they're junior brothers and sister who entered Emei the same day as you. Go greet them."

The one called Dongfang Dan understood his intentions. He arrogantly came up to Lin Xiaolu and first swept his eyes disdainfully over Lin Xiaolu's tattered clothes covered in patches. Then he yelled loudly and arrogantly, "I am the son of the Prime Minister of Great Viet Country. My name is Dongfang Dan, born with an Earth Spirit Root. Who are you?"

Little Fatty's followers, the emaciated senior monk and a group of Nine Infants' disciples, all revealed a look of watching a good show.

Li Miaoxin was dissatisfied, these people obviously came to bully others!

Just as she was about to get angry with knitted brows, Lin Xiaolu, who was stared at by Little Fatty, suddenly sneered,

"I'm your dad."