Chen Feng currently only wanted to grow stronger, having long risen above trivial pursuits. Especially when it came to superficial beauty or ugliness—he paid it little mind. Right now, Chen Feng’s sole focus was on improving his cultivation.
In this world, the stronger one’s cultivation, the greater their freedom. Only then could they protect those they cared about most.
"Master is right. My master isn’t some shallow person," Jin Youxi chimed in, her face full of admiration.
Liu Weiwei was also struck by her master’s words.
Su Yan, seeing the two lovely and vivacious female disciples behind Chen Feng, immediately cursed inwardly:
"Scumbag!"
"I almost fell for your nonsense!"
She took the walking stick Chen Feng handed her and asked, "I’m genuinely curious—what’s your standard for beauty? What do you consider beautiful in your eyes?"
Beauty?
The question dredged up countless memories for Chen Feng.
When he was little, he loved standing by the orphanage window, watching the children outside play happily with their parents.
The laughter of a family was something he could only yearn for back then.
As a child, he often fantasized about what it would be like to have parents—how he, too, could wear a carefree, joyful smile every day.
The thought of his bittersweet childhood made his eyes grow moist.
Su Yan, with her master-level cultivation, could clearly sense Chen Feng’s emotional fluctuations.
Coupled with his teary eyes, it didn’t seem like an act.
"A simple question about beauty actually moved this freak of nature—someone who can defeat opponents above his level and has pushed martial arts techniques to perfection as a mere martial disciple—to tears."
Su Yan didn’t understand why.
Her curiosity about Chen Feng’s answer only grew.
Chen Feng wore a faint smile as his moistened eyes returned to normal.
"For me, nothing in this world is more beautiful than a parent’s smile."
A parent’s smile!
Su Yan froze.
"Yes…"
"But I’ll never see it again."
Her mind instantly conjured the warm smiles of her own parents.
But immediately after, she saw her father’s desolate expression, his disappointment with the world.
And her mother’s despair, the tears she shed while kneeling and begging.
Chen Feng’s words not only reminded Su Yan of her parents but also reignited the memory of her deep-seated vendetta.
At that moment, even Jin Youxi and Liu Weiwei were reminded of their own parents.
Jin Youxi, however, only felt emptiness—no nostalgia.
She had never seen her parents smile.
Her memories were filled only with stern reprimands.
Liu Weiwei’s childhood memories of her parents had long since blurred.
Su Yan gave Chen Feng a deep look.
She thought to herself:
"This level of insight is nothing like a twenty-year-old’s."
No wonder he’s reached the pinnacle of perfection in his martial arts.
"I’m almost reluctant to hand him over to Wei Corporation now."
Chen Feng said to Su Yan, "Take care, auntie. We’ll head back first."
Jin Youxi also waved warmly.
"Goodbye, auntie!"
Su Yan nodded and said to Jin Youxi and Liu Weiwei,
"I envy you both—having such a warm and caring master."
Jin Youxi proudly lifted her chin.
Liu Weiwei also wore a blissful smile.
Just as the two groups were about to part ways—
Suddenly!
A voice echoed in Chen Feng’s mind.
[Detected 100% compatibility with "North Star Divine Art".]
[Name: Su Yan.]
[Note! Successfully taking her as a disciple will yield unexpected rewards.]
Chen Feng was stunned.
When he looked at the "auntie" before him now, his gaze had completely changed.
"What the—I’m supposed to take this older woman as my disciple?"
"How am I even supposed to ask that?"
But seeing the name of that technique, it was impossible not to be tempted.
That was a legendary divine art!
It had to be extraordinary.
Chen Feng was dying to know what effects mastering the North Star Divine Art and reaching harmony with the universe would bring.
"For the sake of my dream of becoming invincible, what’s a little embarrassment?"
If I run into the Devouring Heaven Club again, I’ll have another way to protect myself.
"Besides, this auntie seems like a decent person—perfect disciple material."
Chen Feng cleared his throat and forced himself to say:
"So… uh… auntie, would you like to learn martial arts?"
"I can tell just by looking—your bone structure is extraordinary. You’re a one-in-ten-thousand prodigy."
If you become my disciple, I can teach you an unparalleled technique.
Su Yan was speechless.
Had she misheard?
But there was no one else around.
Jin Youxi and Liu Weiwei were equally dumbfounded.
Their master’s actions had completely surpassed their understanding.
Su Yan stared at Chen Feng in disbelief.
"You want to take me as your disciple?"
Chen Feng nodded awkwardly.
At first, she thought she’d misheard, but seeing her "master" confirm it—
Jin Youxi’s jaw dropped in shock.
Liu Weiwei’s eyes widened, her face a picture of utter disbelief.
This left Su Yan utterly baffled.
A young man in his twenties actually wanted to take her as his disciple.
Though she was only thirty, the side effects of recklessly using the Star-Devouring Technique had taken their toll.
She now looked like she was in her forties or fifties.
Her body was covered in festering sores, her figure bloated and deformed, and even her legs had been affected.
Such was the price of the Star-Devouring Technique.
It allowed rapid progress in cultivation but came with severe drawbacks.
Absorbing others’ life force led to internal conflicts within the body.
While it boosted her power, it also ravaged her physique.
Without it, she’d never have reached master-level by thirty or founded the infamous Devouring Heaven Club.
No matter how hard she racked her brain, Su Yan couldn’t fathom why Chen Feng would want her as a disciple.
"Wasn’t this guy supposed to only like pretty young girls?"
"Or is he actually into… unconventional tastes?"
But there was no point overthinking it.
This was too amusing to pass up.
Su Yan was eager to see what this unpredictable young man was up to.
"Sure!"
"This auntie really does want to learn martial arts."
"Disciple Su Yan pays respects to Master."
Seeing Su Yan actually agree—
Jin Youxi’s mouth hung even wider open.
"I’ve got another junior sister now… and she’s decades older than me."
"Well, this junior sister is even older than Master."
Liu Weiwei was equally stunned.
"Wasn’t this supposed to be a joke?"
"It has to be a joke, right?"
Meanwhile, Chen Feng was ecstatic.
"It worked!"
A voice echoed in his mind:
[Disciple successfully accepted.]
[Acquired technique: "North Star Divine Art".]
[Note! Once your disciple masters the basics of the North Star Divine Art, your own comprehension of the technique will ascend to harmony with the universe.]
Congratulations on achieving the Renowned Master milestone.
[Fourth disciple has established a prominent organization and become its leader.]
[Reward: +200 Qi and Blood points for Master.]
Chen Feng was floored.
He’d just taken on a disciple and instantly completed a milestone, gaining 200 Qi and Blood points.
"Holy—since when was this a thing?"
Reaching 400 Qi and Blood points classifies one as an advanced martial artist.
Chen Feng now had 500.
Even if he faced Han Ming again—who had over 900—he’d dare to fight head-on.
The only question was: what organization had this fourth disciple founded?
A mutual aid society?
A no-fap club?
A senior citizens’ association?
For the life of him, Chen Feng couldn’t figure it out.
Right now, though, he had a more pressing headache—how was he supposed to address Su Yan?
Now that I'm the master, I can't very well keep calling my disciple "auntie," can I?
In the end, I had no choice but to grit my teeth, add Su Yan on WeChat, and send her my address.
"Su Yan, if you're free tomorrow, come find me at this location."
"I happen to have a cultivation technique that suits you. You have to come—I promise you won’t be disappointed."
Chen Feng was desperate to make progress now.
But when he read the description of the technique, his heart skipped a beat.
"Devouring others' life force?"
"Isn't this the Star-Swallowing Art?"

lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...

and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!

with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!

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.”