Mount Duanqing, inside Gu Qingying’s bedroom.
“Hmph! You unfilial disciple dare to lie to me like this! Let me see how I punish you!”
“Gulp… No, Master! Your disciple… disciple really didn’t mean to lie to you! I truly can’t eat anymore!”
“Nonsense! You still have the strength to speak! That proves you’re far from your limit!”
“Oh hoho… Master, please spare me… Your disciple really can’t eat anymore! It’s… going bad…”
“Hmph! Shut up! Open your mouth! If I don’t feed this habitual liar disciple of mine until he’s full, I won’t leave today!”
With that, Lu Li poured out a top-grade Qi Condensing Pill from the white jade bottle in his hand, a sinister grin spreading across his face as he stepped closer to his disciple.
“Ugh, Master…”
Gu Qingying just barely tried to protest, but Lu Li’s fingers pressed down on her crystal-clear lips with an irresistible force, expertly stuffing the pill into her slightly parted mouth.
“Gulp…”
Looking now at Gu Qingying, her mouth was stuffed full with the top-grade Qi Condensing Pills Lu Li fed her.
Her moist purple eyes brimmed with tears, her cheeks flushed red, and her fragrant cheeks puffed out like a hamster’s from the pill’s fullness.
“See! I told you, you can still swallow more!”
Lu Li looked at his disciple, who was muffled and unable to speak, only able to stare blankly with shimmering purple eyes.
He smugly lifted his chin.
“Hmph… You unfilial disciple! Just now you dared to lie and say you couldn’t fit any more pills in your mouth? You really need a lesson~”
As Lu Li spoke, he stuffed pill after pill into Gu Qingying’s mouth, not forgetting to push back in any pills that peeked out at the corners of her lips.
And every time he fed her a pill, Lu Li would unintentionally brush against Gu Qingying’s soft, tender lips.
To Lu Li, this was nothing unusual—it was just the normal feeding between himself and his beloved disciple “Gu Qingkong.”
But for Gu Qingying, who was disguised as a boy and had secretly adored Lu Li for two lifetimes, this was nothing less than the most terrifying and ambiguous form of torture in the world.
The pill’s medicinal power surged warmly through her veins, and combined with the warmth of Lu Li’s fingers touching her lips, the sensation was so pleasant she almost cried out.
Yet, she dared not reveal her identity now and had to endure everything in front of her master, disguised as a male disciple.
This kind of situation was pure torment for her!
And the reason things ended up like this all started a few minutes ago, when Lu Li submitted a task and redeemed its reward from the system.
[Ding! Task: Branching Out (Completed)]
[Task Rating: 90]
[Reward: Cultivation level increased by one minor realm.]
“Ah ha… Dao Lord, I’ve made it!”
Staring at the system panel’s task settlement screen, Lu Li’s smile was harder to suppress than a tightly gripped 98K rifle.
After returning to the mountain, Lu Li casually tossed his disciple a set of Mount Duanqing training clothes and told him to pick an empty cave house on the mountain to live in.
Then he left his disciple to one side and went back to his own room to claim his reward.
[Ding! System rewards being issued!]
As the system’s prompt sounded, a surge of pure spiritual energy burst forth from deep within Lu Li’s dantian, instantly flowing through his entire body!
Immediately, Lu Li’s cultivation began to…
Explode!
Soar!
Skyrocket…
His cultivation, originally at mid Foundation Establishment, was instantly pushed up to the peak of Foundation Establishment by this overwhelming power!
His divine sense also sharpened, becoming clearer and more sensitive with this sudden increase.
Feeling the changes in his body, Lu Li clenched his fist tightly.
Then he glanced again at the blood-red countdown timer in the system task bar, which had already disappeared.
Having been anxious about it for days, Lu Li finally relaxed.
Sure enough, this kind of real growth, free from the threat of system task death, was the most reassuring feeling in the world…
However, the system’s prompt did not end there.
[Ding! Detected that the disciple recruited by the host has a hidden special constitution, with talent far surpassing ordinary disciples.]
[Achievement unlocked: Peerless Genius.]
[Reward to host: Top-grade Qi Condensing Pill × 100.]
[Top-grade Qi Condensing Pill: Assists cultivators in Qi condensation, consolidating their foundation. Extremely effective for Qi Refining stage cultivators, but less so for Foundation Establishment stage.]
“Not bad~ This reward’s really not bad~”
Lu Li’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he looked at the hundred gleaming pills added to his system space.
“A whole hundred top-grade Qi Condensing Pills~ Not only will this solidify Qingkong’s foundation in the Qi Refining stage, but it’ll also greatly help me consolidate my cultivation at Foundation Establishment Peak!”
“As expected, the system is just as generous and magnanimous as in the original game~”
Just as Lu Li finished praising the system, the system panel popped up again, as if to assert its presence.
[Ding! Side Quest: Patient Guidance. Please lead disciple Gu Qingkong to cultivate, raising his cultivation to Qi Refining Peak.]
[Reward: Cultivation level increased by one minor realm. (Foundation Establishment Peak → Core Formation Early Stage)]
[No time limit]
[Ding! Side Quest: Branching Out · Continued. Please recruit two more high-quality direct disciples for Mount Duanqing.]
[Reward: Cultivation level increased by one minor realm. (Foundation Establishment Peak → Core Formation Early Stage)]
[No time limit]
“Phew… Two unlimited-time side quests at once? And the rewards are so generous? Straight to Core Formation?”
Lu Li was stunned for a moment before bursting with joy.
“Ah ha! I knew this disciple recruitment rebate system was just as generous as the game!”
“System bro, you’re the best! I was scared to death by your last limited-time wipeout, and now you’re warming me up like this?”
“Heh heh heh… No time limits are great! I can finish whenever I want—safety first, steady progress!”
But just as Lu Li was about to break into a victorious song like “Good Days,” the system’s cold prompt sounded again.
[Ding! Main Quest: Set an Example as a Teacher. Please raise your cultivation to Core Formation within three months, to set an example for your disciples.]
[Reward: Random Earth-rank Spiritual Artifact]
[Failure Penalty: Soul shattering and dispersal]
[Task Countdown: 89 days 23 hours 59 minutes]
Seeing the familiar blood-red countdown, the smile on Lu Li’s face instantly froze.
The joy and ease he had just felt were shattered by this sudden time-limited task.
“Pfft… System! Are you messing with me?”
Lu Li almost spat out a mouthful of old blood in anger, stomping and cursing at the empty cave house.
“System, can you show some shame? If you want me dead, just say it! Raise cultivation to Core Formation in three months? You think Core Formation’s some roadside weed you can pick whenever you want?”
“Even for me, a Heaven Root genius, it’s impossible to break through Foundation Establishment to Core Formation in just three months!”
Though Lu Li cursed, he actually understood what the system was trying to do.
The system wanted him to pick one of the two side quests to complete, and thus finish his main quest along the way.
After all, compared to the unrealistic approach of grinding three months straight to forcibly break through to Core Formation, teaching his disciple to reach Qi Refining Peak or recruiting two more high-quality disciples, then using system rewards to break through to Core Formation, was far easier.
But Lu Li had little hope of recruiting two more disciples.
The Void Spirit Sect was notorious for having far more females than males, and the system’s disciple quality requirements were extremely high.
Finding two more high-quality male disciples with talent and aptitude comparable to Gu Qingkong was basically impossible.
In his previous life playing the game, Lu Li barely managed to recruit five high-quality disciples after countless attempts—and all five were female unfilial disciples.
That just shows how hard it was to meet the high-quality disciple standard.
So, compared to spending three months hunting for two more disciples with comparable aptitude, Lu Li felt it was more efficient to focus on boosting Gu Qingkong’s cultivation.
But even with Gu Qingkong’s talent… raising him to Qi Refining Peak within three months was no easy feat for Lu Li at this stage.
As he pondered, Lu Li’s gaze instinctively fell on the hundred gleaming top-grade Qi Condensing Pills in his system space.
Then he slapped his thigh and shouted excitedly, as if he’d just had an epiphany.
“Phew… Right! If training hard won’t work, can’t I just pile up resources?”
“As long as there are enough pills, even a pig…”
“Ahem… Even if talent is somewhat ordinary, I can push him to Qi Refining Peak! Especially since Qingkong’s talent is top-notch!”
Lu Li’s gloomy mood instantly lifted.
His eyes gleamed with the determination of a master for his disciple.
“Heh heh heh… This is called the disciple cultivating first to lead the master later! Eventually, we’ll ascend together!”
Growing more confident by the minute, Lu Li grabbed two large bottles of Qi Condensing Pills and rushed to his disciple’s bedroom.
“Ah hahaha… Good disciple! Pills are here~”
And thus, the scene at the beginning unfolded…