While Gong Shangyu and Gu Qingying were engaged in a heated discussion about the “sneaky cat,” Lu Li, who had returned to his room to cultivate, was seriously contemplating the major crisis looming over the Jin Kingdom’s Royal City.
The Shadow Self Sect’s conspiracy, the imminent opening of the Gate of the Demon Realm, the immense hidden dangers within the Royal Secret Realm Trial…
Recalling each piece of intelligence and crisis he had uncovered last night, Lu Li couldn’t help but frown.
A storm is coming.
I must improve my strength as soon as possible—not just my own, but Qingkong and Bai Yu’s as well…
They need enough power to protect themselves.
Having thought this far, Lu Li focused his mind and summoned the light screen of his [Rebate Disciple System], intending to check the cultivation progress of his two disciples to plan the allocation of resources.
However, when his gaze fell on the progress bars of his two disciples, his pupils abruptly contracted!
Foundation Establishment, Early Stage?!
How, after all this time, are Qingkong and Bai Yu still at Foundation Establishment, Early Stage?!
Compared to his last check, there was almost no noticeable improvement or growth!
The progress bar was moving at a snail’s pace!
Looking at the cultivation progress bars of his two disciples, Lu Li felt a surge of nameless anger “whoosh” up from within!
‘Hmph! Those two useless brats! So many days have passed, and their cultivation hasn’t advanced an inch? What have they been doing?!’
He recalled Gu Qingkong’s cheeky behavior yesterday, pestering him to take her to some lantern festival.
Lu Li felt even more furious.
‘A lantern festival? She still has the face to ask about a lantern festival?! Has she mastered her techniques? Has she improved her cultivation? All she thinks about is playing!’
Then he thought about how exceptionally diligent the two had been this morning while preparing breakfast, putting on that “obedient and diligent” act…
‘So that’s it! That’s it! I wondered why the sun rose from the west today, with them being so proactive about cooking… So they had a guilty conscience! Knowing they’ve been slacking off in their cultivation recently, they thought they could fool me with these little favors!’
Lu Li’s expression completely darkened, his chest rising and falling slightly.
He was counting on his disciples leveling up so he could level up too, escape the life-threatening system tasks, and prove the Dao to become an immortal.
And here these two were, practically blocking his path to survival!
‘Lazy! Unambitious!’
He abruptly stood up, paced a couple of steps in the room, his eyes sharp as blades.
‘Hmph! No! Absolutely cannot let them continue to waste away like this! The secret realm is full of dangers. With their current Foundation Establishment, Early Stage cultivation, going in would be suicide!’
‘And if these two disciples don’t buckle down and cultivate diligently, how is their master supposed to prove the Dao and become an immortal?’
‘Sigh… At their age, how can they sleep soundly without cultivating diligently?! Fourteen or fifteen is when learning ability is at its peak, the most suitable time for cultivation!’
‘Well… But thinking about it carefully, I probably shouldn’t be too harsh on them. After all, teenagers are naturally playful!’
‘Sigh—Since they themselves aren’t taking it seriously, then I, as their master, will just have to take it seriously for them!’
Having said this, a trace of resolve and ruthlessness suddenly flashed in Lu Li’s eyes.
He retrieved several jade bottles from his storage pouch.
The bottles were labeled “Solid Foundation Pill,” “Origin Cultivation Pill,” “Spirit Impact Powder,” and the like—all were pills with gentle medicinal properties but exceptionally potent effects, suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators to solidify their foundation and break through bottlenecks!
Looking at this pile of pills in his hand, the corner of Lu Li’s mouth curled up into a cold, hard arc.
‘Hehehe… Like to be lazy? Don’t want to cultivate?’
‘Then this master will give you a hand! I’ll “stuff” your cultivation to Foundation Establishment, Middle Stage with pills! Let’s see how you slack off then!’
With a cold snort, Lu Li grabbed the pile of pills and turned to walk out the door, ready to properly supervise his two “unambitious” precious disciples.
“Ahahaha… Qingkong! Bai Yu!”
“Pills are here—let’s have a pleasant cultivation session!”
At the exact same moment Lu Li pushed open his door…
Gong Shangyu and Gu Qingying, who had been conspiring in their room, walked out one after the other, both with faint traces of their recent argument still lingering on their faces.
Gong Shangyu’s eyes were sharp.
She immediately used a transmission secret art to speak to Gu Qingying.
“Listen, I swear on my system, Zhou Ruo and Jian Mingzi are definitely suspicious! Especially that so-called Jian Mingzi—the way she looks at Master isn’t right! They must be vixens who have set their sights on Master!”
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingying slightly frowned, but inwardly, she didn’t take Gong Shangyu’s words seriously.
She felt her second senior sister had become even more paranoid and biased lately.
After all, how could so many people be coveting Master?
Gong Shangyu just likes to make a mountain out of a molehill, always being suspicious like this.
Just as the two women were secretly communicating, Lu Li suddenly appeared before them like a ghost.
Seeing their master’s grinning face, both women’s hearts simultaneously “thumped.”
They quickly suppressed all unusual expressions on their faces, lowered their heads, and assumed their most respectful and obedient postures.
However, their hearts involuntarily beat faster, afraid their master had overheard even a single word of their secret talk.
Especially when they looked up and met the “exceptionally kind,” even somewhat “benevolent,” yet faintly chilling smile on Lu Li’s face, a sense of foreboding poured over them like ice water from head to toe.
Gong Shangyu forced herself to remain calm and cautiously spoke, her voice three shades softer than usual.
“Ma-Master… You… is there something you need?”
At the same time, her mind was racing.
‘Ah… It’s over! It’s over! That expression on Master’s face… Could it be he discovered we’re disguised as men? Or that we were gossiping about him?’
Gu Qingying’s scalp was also tingling.
Her purple eyes were lowered, not daring to meet Lu Li’s gaze, and her fingers hidden in her sleeves curled slightly.
Seeing his two “guilty-looking” disciples, Lu Li inwardly snorted coldly, but the smile on his face grew even more “gentle.”
“This master sees that you two have been… quite idle lately. Presumably, you’ve hit a bottleneck in your cultivation, or perhaps you feel your current realm is already ‘stable’ enough?”
Lu Li’s voice was unhurried, yet carried an intangible pressure.
“Since you yourselves aren’t in a hurry, then this master will just have to personally ‘take an interest’ for you and properly give you some supplementary lessons.”
As soon as the words fell, Lu Li flicked his wrist.
Like a magic trick, several jade bottles of different colors with various labels appeared in his hand.
The bottles shook slightly, the pills inside colliding with a faint rustling sound that, to the two women’s ears, sounded like a death knell!
Solid Foundation Pill! Origin Cultivation Pill! Spirit Impact Powder!
The moment they clearly saw those pills, Gong Shangyu and Gu Qingying’s faces turned as white as sheets!
Their minds instantly flashed back to the previous experience of being subjected to “force-fed” cultivation by their master—being stuffed full of pills, having their meridians cleared—that terrifying ordeal that was both stimulating and humiliating, almost to the point of bursting!
“Ma-Master! This disciple suddenly remembers today’s sword techniques aren’t finished yet!”
Gong Shangyu reacted extremely quickly.
Throwing out that sentence, she turned and used her movement technique to flee!
With her long legs and large strides, she shot out like a startled rabbit, leaving only an afterimage behind.
“This disciple… this disciple needs to review talisman scriptures!”
Gu Qingying spoke almost simultaneously.
Her petite figure was even more agile as she shot towards another direction like lightning, her purple eyes filled with panic.
“Hmph! Trying to run?”
Lu Li had anticipated this.
How could he allow them to escape right under his nose?
He snorted coldly and fiercely waved his large sleeve!
In an instant, an immense suction force materialized from his sleeve, as if tearing open an invisible black hole in that space! The surrounding air distorted, leaves and dust swirling towards his sleeve.
This was precisely Lu Li’s signature divine ability—Sleeve Universe!
“Ah!”
Gong Shangyu, who was slightly ahead, felt an irresistible force grab her waist.
No matter how she circulated her spirit energy, her body uncontrollably flew backwards.
Her heart raced with anxiety.
Seeing she was about to be sucked into that “black hole,” a “brilliant” idea flashed through her mind as she caught sight of Gu Qingying, who was right behind her and also being pulled off balance.
‘Hmph… Better a fellow Daoist die than this poor Daoist!’
Using the direction of the suction, Gong Shangyu suddenly kicked her leg backward, landing squarely on Gu Qingying’s shoulder!
“Hey!”
Gu Qingying was caught off guard.
Stumbling, her speed drastically reduced, she was about to be captured by Lu Li first.
A trace of smugness flashed through Gong Shangyu’s mind, and she immediately transmitted a taunt.
“Sorry, Junior Sister! You just obediently accompany Master for a pleasant cultivation session! Senior Sister is taking the first step out!”
Gong Shangyu thought she could use the reaction force from this kick to slightly break free from the suction, buying herself a sliver of a chance.
Even if she couldn’t, she could use sacrificing Gu Qingying as a distraction to escape.
However, she had underestimated Gu Qingying’s reaction and her junior sister’s determination to share both joy and hardship!
Just as a smug arc began to curl at the corner of Gong Shangyu’s mouth, an ice-cold little hand clamped onto her ankle like an iron vice—the very ankle she had just kicked out and hadn’t had time to retract!
Gu Qingying raised her small face, slightly flushed from exertion.
A flash of vengeful satisfaction and resolve passed through her purple eyes as she transmitted back, her voice tinged with gritted teeth.
“Second Senior Sister! How could I enjoy such a good thing alone?!”
“Since we’re all sisters, naturally we should share blessings and hardships. If we’re going to hell, we go together!”
“You want to run off by yourself? No way!”
“You!”
Gong Shangyu was both shocked and furious, wanting to break free, but it was too late.
And so, the two women pulled at each other, dragging each other down.
Neither could escape, instead accelerating the process of being captured.
Then Lu Li exerted force again.
The suction force of the Sleeve Universe suddenly intensified!
“Whoosh!”
Two figures, as if grabbed by an invisible giant hand, were pulled towards Lu Li with no power to resist.
Lu Li expressionlessly extended his hands, accurately grabbing each by the back of their collars like two disobedient kittens.
“Hmph, trying to fight with your master?”
Lu Li weighed the two instantly wilted disciples in his hands, his tone carrying unquestionable authority.
“Today’s lesson is happening! Both of you, get back to the room and cultivate!”
Having said that, he marched towards his own bedroom, holding the dejected Gong Shangyu and Gu Qingying, whose minds were filled with endless curses.
And then, from within Lu Li’s bedroom, a series of classic “immortal lady battle cries” rang out once more.
“Mmmph… Ah! I can’t take it anymore!”
“Shut up! Endure it! I’ll show you two rebellious disciples who don’t cultivate properly all day, just thinking about playing!”
“Ngghh… Ah! It’s going to come out!”
“Swallow it! Don’t you dare spit it out! Refine it properly! Or you’ll regret it!”
“Sob… Master! I’m going to explode! Can’t you let me rest for a bit?!”
“Ah ah ah… Master! I can’t hold on anymore!”
And almost at the same time, outside the courier station courtyard, a cold, aloof figure quietly landed.
It was Feng Lingshuang, who had just convinced the Heavenly Sword Sect’s higher-ups to have the disciples participating in the trial assist the Jin Royal Family in resolving the Royal Secret Realm crisis.
She had come with this good news to find Lu Li.
At this moment, she still wore the veiled hat that obscured her face.
Dressed in snow-white robes, with an ancient sword on her back, she exuded an aloof sword energy that warned others to keep their distance.
Thinking about soon seeing that “Master” who stirred her emotions, even behind the veil, the corner of her mouth involuntarily softened slightly.
Feng Lingshuang walked with light steps directly towards the guest courtyard where Lu Li resided.
However, before she even stepped into the courtyard gate, a series of faint, intermittent, and extremely ambiguous female voices, carried by the breeze, clearly drifted into her ears!
“Master! Let me rest! I know I was wrong!”
“Master! It’s going to come out! I can’t control the spirit energy!”
Hearing the strange cries rising and falling from within the room, Feng Lingshuang was instantly dumbfounded.
Every note that Gu Qingying and Gong Shangyu had just shouted from inside the room felt like a red-hot dagger, viciously stabbing into Feng Lingshuang’s eardrums and piercing straight to her heart!
Her steps halted abruptly.
Her entire body froze in place as if encased in ice!
The complexion beneath her veiled hat instantly drained of color, turning deathly pale!
‘Ah… Wh-what kind of sounds are these?!’
‘Inside Master’s room… How could there be such shameless, unbearable sounds?!’
‘And from two different female cultivators?’
‘Most crucially, why do these voices sound so familiar?’
‘It feels… like Junior Sister Gong and Junior Sister Gu!’
Because the abilities of System Holders were mutually immune, Feng Lingshuang could ignore Gu Qingying’s Cognitive Modification.
However, this also made Gu Qingying and Gong Shangyu’s cries sound even more humiliating and infuriating to her ears!
Recalling what she had read from Master’s mind last night during her mind-reading—about Gong Shangyu and Gu Qingying’s past lives, the various actions they had taken against their master, such as using him to test pills and even forcing dual cultivation on him to absorb his cultivation…
Feng Lingshuang, who had always considered herself part of the Righteous Path, instantly “overheated”!
Then an incredibly terrifying thought, one that almost froze all the blood in Feng Lingshuang’s body, shot up like a venomous snake and viciously bit her heart!
‘In their past lives… they once… they once did those things to Master!’
‘Could it be… could it be that this time, these two incorrigible scoundrels are repeating their old tricks?’
‘Taking advantage of Master’s unpreparedness, using some crooked charm technique or drug to confuse Master’s mind, and are currently engaging in that disgraceful act, forcing dual cultivation on him?’
The moment Feng Lingshuang thought of this, she felt a surge of overwhelming rage mixed with heart-wrenching pain shoot up from her dantian straight to the top of her head! Her vision even darkened for a moment!
“You scum! How dare you act like this!”
“You actually dare to treat Master like this…”
And you didn’t even take me along!
Feng Lingshuang cursed with boundless hatred.
Of course, she didn’t voice that last part about not taking her along.
The moment Feng Lingshuang’s words fell, the ancient sword on her back, as if sensing its master’s boundless fury, suddenly emitted a clear, resonant dragon’s roar! It automatically slid three inches out of its sheath.
A chilling sword energy shot into the sky, cutting through the surrounding space and producing faint whistling sounds!
Then, the icy killing intent spread out from Feng Lingshuang as the center like a tangible cold wave!