Lin Shu looked at the **[Void Panel]** floating before his eyes, pondering the options displayed on it.
‘I can understand choice one; I’d probably miss out on some key plot points…’
‘As for choice two… I’ll just skip that one entirely…’
‘Regarding three…’
Lin Shu bit his finger, getting a general idea of the consequences choice three would bring.
If everything goes as expected, tonight’s **[Special CG Plot]** will take place in the Tianque Sect’s restricted area—the Sanqing Daoist Tomb.
This senior, who had left a profound mark on the history of the Tianque Sect, was deeply respected and loved by its disciples. It was said that when he passed away, the Sect Master of that era personally escorted his body back to the Tianque Sect for burial.
Lin Shu had never seen this senior with his own eyes, but there were descriptions in the sect’s portraits.
He had thick eyebrows, big eyes, a messy beard, and a disheveled appearance. He was tall and burly, looking like a body cultivator but actually being a dharma cultivator…
Lin Shu found it hard to imagine a scene where an opponent, fully stacked with physical resistance and draped in dharma treasures, sat solemnly only to be knocked down by the Sanqing Daoist’s fist wrapped in talismans.
The spectacle would be no less grand than Zhang Fei taking a needle to a battlefield.
**[Go back to sleep in the Sanqing Daoist’s coffin]** seemed abstract, but for Lin Shu, this wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened. Otherwise, the system wouldn’t have used the word “back.”
Back when Lin Shu first joined the Tianque Sect, the Peak Master of Qingluan Peak—his master, Jiang Cha—often took him to the restricted area.
Why go there intentionally while knowing it was forbidden?
The reason was simple and unpretentious: the offerings to the various seniors were just too tempting.
Before Qingluan Peak struck it rich, their peak’s gross production value was the lowest in the entire Tianque Sect. Under the leadership of a spendthrift like Jiang Cha, Lin Shu and the others lived almost entirely on Fasting Pills, lacking even the funds to improve their meals.
Later, to show her generosity as a master and encourage her disciples’ cultivation results, Jiang Cha decided to treat them to a meal.
The location was, naturally, the Tianque Sect’s restricted area. Since it was a buffet, it was all-you-can-eat; they could eat as much as they wanted until they were full.
When the young Lin Shu was stuffing his mouth with buns made from 100-year-old rare spirit beast meat, he naively asked, “If we eat like this, won’t the seniors of the Tianque Sect blame us?”
He thought his great master would tell him some life philosophy like “the meat passes through the intestines while faith remains in the heart” to put his mind at ease.
Instead, Jiang Cha simply snatched his bun away irritably and said, “If you don’t want to eat it, then don’t. From now on, I’ll send you to the Shuiyun Peak cafeteria to eat.” The young Lin Shu immediately shut his mouth, praised the greatness of the offerings, and naturally joined the “snacking squad.”
As for why he ended up sleeping in the Sanqing Daoist’s coffin, that happened by accident.
Most of the offerings given to the seniors would eventually be consumed by the Qi Refining stage spirit beasts raised in the restricted area. These beasts also held the responsibility of guarding the place—a practice the Tianque Sect accepted as a “natural and harmonious” win-win situation.
However, because the master and disciples of Qingluan Peak went to steal the offerings every day, the spirit beasts’ nutrition couldn’t keep up, and they grew thinner by the day.
Consequently, whenever these spirit beasts encountered disciples on mountain patrol, they would open their mouths wide to indicate they weren’t getting enough food.
The disciples on duty thought the spirit beasts were just acting cute and simply patted their heads.
Later, the spirit beasts were pushed to their limits. They cultivated hard, breaking through from the Qi Refining stage to the late Foundation Establishment stage in one fell swoop, learning to speak in the process. During that time, they even struggled to learn how to hold a pen with their claws.
Finally, heaven did not fail those determined beasts. A whole mountain of spirit beasts marched grandly to the Sect Master’s residence to file a joint complaint.
The entire sect was shocked. The Sect Master immediately announced a strict investigation, provided compensation to the spirit beasts, and increased the number of patrol disciples to catch the bold scoundrels stealing the offerings.
Jiang Cha, the Peak Master of Qingluan Peak, raised her hand in agreement and proactively signed up for the “Guard Squad,” setting a leading example and encouraging the disciples of Qingluan Peak to sign up as well.
For a time, Qingluan Peak was in the spotlight, and Lin Shu’s group was repeatedly praised by the Sect Master as the “future pillars of the Tianque Sect.”
During that period, Lin Shu walked with his head down, fearing someone would recognize him. Of course, he didn’t miss a single bite of the offerings he should have eaten. It was just that because of the increased patrols, Lin Shu and the others learned to hide inside the tombs.
The most serious instance was when the patrol duty was handed to an elder from another peak. To hide, Jiang Cha had shoved Lin Shu into the Sanqing Daoist’s coffin.
That was Lin Shu’s most vivid memory. According to the descriptions in stories, a 1,000-year-old coffin like that should at least have corpse bugs or something.
However, there was nothing in the Sanqing Daoist’s coffin!
It was as if this person had never stayed in the coffin at all.
It was clean, tidy, hygienic, and had no odor…
If this were a guy’s room, people would definitely think he was gay.
No one knew why the Sanqing Daoist’s coffin was empty, and Lin Shu didn’t dare to ask.
Only once, out of curiosity, had he asked Jiang Cha about the Sanqing Daoist.
Jiang Cha just gave a mysterious smile and told him not to ask, saying that even she didn’t know.
Thinking of this, Lin Shu picked up his teacup and took a sip.
The reason he had stopped Sanqing Fairy was purely because this matter was too strange. Moreover, if she found out the Sanqing Daoist wasn’t at the Tianque Sect, the fairy would likely insist on going out to find her clones.
At the moment, Lin Shu didn’t dare to leave the sect casually, especially since his Junior Sister had only just begun to grow.
As for another reason… He didn’t feel comfortable letting Sanqing Fairy go out alone. If she caused trouble and her first line was “my big brother is Lin Shu of the Tianque Sect,” that would be a huge problem!
*Knock, knock, knock…*
A crisp knocking sound echoed from downstairs. Without waiting for Lin Shu to answer, the door was pushed open, and two auras entered one after the other.
The newcomers were Sanqing Fairy and Lu Zhiyun. They had clearly just finished a teaching session. A few beads of sweat hung on Lu Zhiyun’s forehead, while Sanqing Fairy sat down as soon as she entered to pour herself some tea to quench her thirst.
“Senior Brother! There’s a letter for you!” Lu Zhiyun handed over a letter wrapped in yellow parchment.
A complex formation was etched onto the seal of the letter. Lin Shu examined it and saw it was an official mark of Dagan.
But he had learned his lesson this time. After the lesson Jiang Cha had taught him last time, he didn’t even open it.
“Return it directly. This was likely pushed onto our Qingluan Peak by the sect, so it’s probably not a good job.” Lin Shu handed the letter back to Lu Zhiyun.
“Huh? Is that okay?” Lu Zhiyun asked in confusion.
“Of course it’s okay. As long as we don’t open it, it doesn’t count as us accepting it.” Lin Shu stroked his chin, sorting through recent important matters involving Dagan.
‘If I’m not mistaken, it’s likely State Preceptor Jiang’s routine trip south that happens every ten years.’
‘The sect’s intention is probably to have us send someone to welcome the State Preceptor. After all, a transcendent-grade immortal sect still has to put on a bit of a show.’
In the south-central part of the Dagan territory, there was a bustling city comparable to the capital—Wu City. It was a paradise for immortal cultivators to trade and a gathering place for many rogue cultivators. People from all walks of life, including prestigious sects, had businesses there.
For instance, Lin Shu’s Tianque Sect had some shops for weapon forging and alchemy there. However, because they were a newly promoted transcendent-grade sect, they were inevitably marginalized by other sects, and their development there hadn’t been very good so far.
State Preceptor Jiang would travel south every ten years to provide important instructions for the development of Wu City and to check for hidden dangers, such as hidden evil cultivators or demonic cults.
Hearing Lin Shu say this, Lu Zhiyun was naturally somewhat disappointed.
She hadn’t had the heart to send the letter last time. If she could find a chance to explain everything in person, it would likely be much more effective.
But it seemed there would be no way to have a face-to-face contact with the State Preceptor.
“Oh, it’s fine, Little Lu! You’ve been busy with cultivation lately anyway! You don’t have time to go out and play!” Sanqing Fairy laughed. “We should just stay obediently in the sect.”
Lin Shu looked at Sanqing Fairy’s obedient appearance and recalled the system options.
‘Fairy, you won’t go behind my back and take my Junior Sister to rob graves, right?’
*Cough, cough!* Sanqing Fairy was suddenly choked by her tea and hurriedly explained, “I… Am I that kind of immortal?”
“Besides! After hearing the things you said, who would still dare to go? Right, Little Lu?”
Lu Zhiyun nodded repeatedly, looking like a hamster eating sunflower seeds.
Previously, to make Sanqing Fairy give up the idea, Lin Shu had told her ghost stories about the Tianque Sect’s restricted area, such as “every night, the spirit beasts in the mountains would let out shrill screams” and “once the offerings in the restricted area disappear, you must leave immediately, or you’ll encounter something eerie”…
Sanqing Fairy thought Lin Shu was lying to her, but after asking Lu Zhiyun, she found out that such rumors did indeed exist in the Tianque Sect.
Lin Shu guessed her recent obedience was likely because of this.
Of course, ghost stories often had a huge discrepancy with the truth.
The so-called “shrill screams of the spirit beasts” wasn’t due to any supernatural influence but rather a problem with the offerings.
Whenever he thought of this, Lin Shu was so angry he wanted to tear apart the little brat who had suggested “solving the problem of stolen offerings from the source.”
Despite the increased manpower, the thefts continued, and the amount of stolen offerings even increased.
The elders were frowning, trying to change the atmosphere, but they had reservations considering the time cost.
Then, an elder suggested, “Since the thieves are eating the offerings, it must be because the offerings taste good. Why don’t we change the person who prepares the daily offerings? Maybe we can solve the problem from the root.”
And then, once Jiang Cha and Lin Shu tasted that familiar flavor, they both honestly stopped going to the restricted area to eat the offerings, leaving the spirit beasts to enjoy the “delicacies” all by themselves.
‘As long as she doesn’t go…’ Lin Shu thought to himself.
That night, following the system’s instructions, he arrived at the Sanqing Daoist’s coffin with practiced ease.
The inside of the coffin was still brand new, looking clean as if someone frequently swept it, yet it remained empty.
He closed the coffin lid and waited quietly for the plot arranged by the system to trigger.
Before long, a few faint whispers were heard in the lonely restricted area.
“Fairy… maybe we should just leave? This place is really creepy.”
“What are you afraid of! This place is full of dead people. I’ve checked with my divine sense; there isn’t a single living soul around!”
“Hmph! Trying to trick me with ghost stories… I’ve lived for hundreds of thousands of years; what haven’t I seen…”