Chapter 3: The Perverted Elder

“To go protect Bai Shimei… sounds like a troublesome mission.”

Lin Dongming muttered to himself as his mind began calculating: with Bai Zhiqing’s current favor towards him, this task was bound to bring even more complications.

But it wasn’t something he could refuse—he’d have to grit his teeth and swallow it.

“Also, give this to her.”

Tuoba Wanyu tossed a jade pendant to Lin Dongming.

“It’s engraved with a formation array that can help her defend herself.”

“Understood.”

By the time Lin Dongming leisurely descended from the Artifact Refining Peak, it was already somewhat late. He then flew his sword toward the Dan Pavilion.

“After all, since I’m out now, I should notify Elder Yun Shuying.”

Elder Yun Shuying, the Alchemy Elder, was one of Lin Dongming’s long-term clients. Not only did she give him large amounts of Spirit Stones, but also various elixirs that aided cultivation. She was definitely a client worth currying favor with.

After all, Lin Dongming’s goal was to cultivate up to the Conjunction Stage and then take it easy.

Unlike in his previous life, in the cultivation world, anything below Conjunction Stage wasn’t allowed to enter the big leagues.

Whether Nascent Soul or Core Formation, cultivators often had to marry for family or sect purposes or undertake extremely dangerous—sometimes deadly—missions. That wasn’t even the worst part.

There were those who, knowing full well they would be refined into Human Pills, still had to take one perilous step after another to avoid dragging down their loved ones.

But once at the Conjunction Stage, though restrictions remained, one was no longer merely a pawn to be manipulated. If danger arose and one chose to ignore it and hide deep in the mountains, few could force you out.

The Tribulation Stage strength capable of defeating Conjunction Stage fighters was reserved for critical matters.

As for why he had to be a sycophant providing emotional support—purely because he had no other choice.

When Lin Dongming first arrived at the Heavenly Extreme Sword Sect, he was just an outer disciple at the Qi Refining Stage. Resources for outer disciples were extremely limited—only a few Lower-grade Spirit Stones and failed elixirs each month.

Only by breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage could one enter the inner sect and have a chance to climb higher. Otherwise, he was at the bottom of the food chain, living and dying without notice.

But Lin Dongming had calculated repeatedly that with this body’s talent and the sect’s resources, breakthrough was almost impossible. And failure meant death—something he could not afford.

Using his body and providing emotional value to earn cultivation resources was the only method he could think of at the time. Had he not met a willing senior sister to buy his services, he might still be stuck at Qi Refining Stage.

Passing through a veil of clouds, a continuous chain of peaks unfolded before his eyes.

The so-called Dan Pavilion was not a grand pavilion but the name of the Heavenly Extreme Sword Sect’s alchemy faction. All these peaks fell under its territory.

Lin Dongming avoided the Master Peak and flew toward a quiet mountain—that was Elder Yun Shuying’s residence.

His dealings with Yun Shuying were straightforward: take care of her daily life and soothe her emotions.

As for why she chose Lin Dongming, he had a good guess: Yun Shuying liked praise.

Her cultivation method resembled the relatively rare Red Dust Cultivation: experiencing the mundane world’s trivialities to break through one’s mindset, thereby advancing cultivation. Yun Shuying’s cultivation technique likely belonged to this category.

Red Dust Cultivation’s advantage was a stable, clear Dao heart, strong resistance to illusions and phantasms, and powerful combat ability due to rich experience.

Its drawback was that honing the Dao heart took a long time, so cultivation progress was slow.

Yun Shuying’s Red Dust Sword was famous throughout the Heavenly Extreme Sword Sect, praised by many.

But very few could speak to the subtleties of her skills across sword cultivation, alchemy, artifact forging, brewing, horticulture, and calligraphy alike.

So, after once praising her Spirit Wine and Spirit Plants by chance, Lin Dongming was hired to take care of her spirit garden and part of her daily life while providing emotional support.

What surprised Lin Dongming somewhat was Yun Shuying’s exacting standards and her somewhat volatile mood.

Being treated coldly was considered good; sometimes she even lashed out with harsh words or physical blows. Although her spiritual power was absent and couldn’t truly harm him, the insults were sharp.

Despite this, for the sake of abundant Spirit Stones, Lin Dongming had to kowtow to her. Yun Shuying seemed to enjoy seeing him grovel.

But after venting, she often felt she had gone too far and would apologize, make amends, and even offer elixirs and Spirit Stones as compensation—eerily similar to abusers in social news reports from Lin Dongming’s previous life.

Lin Dongming, however, was not swayed; he was just an emotionless Spirit Stone-earning machine. Usually, he accepted those Spirit Stones with a businesslike smile and internally cursed and grumbled.

—Sympathize with her?

Me, a broke Core Formation stage cultivator, sympathizing with this Conjunction Stage capitalist? My head’s clearly broken.

He was clear-headed. Once the deal was done, they parted clean—no debts, no grudges.

“Here, your Ling Tea.”

Lin Dongming handed over the hot tea with practiced ease.

Having worked with Yun Shuying for so long, he knew all her preferences: at night she liked hot tea with osmanthus petals, especially in autumn and winter; she loved Plum Wine, best with ice but not too much or she’d get drunk and wild.

In truth, by Yun Shuying’s realm, she was long beyond sensitivity to temperature. These habits were likely remnants from before Core Formation, preserved even after reaching Conjunction Stage.

Thinking on this, Yun Shuying and Tuoba Wanyu’s lives were complete opposites.

Though both were brilliant Conjunction Stage cultivators, Tuoba Wanyu was a typical cultivation maniac, single-mindedly pursuing breakthroughs, indifferent to anything else, with few hobbies.

Gifts that never failed were cultivation elixirs or artifact materials.

There were various rumors that Tuoba Wanyu’s innate talent was average, and she relied on special techniques or elixirs to reach Conjunction Stage.

But Lin Dongming found most of these unfounded—if such techniques and elixirs existed, everyone would scramble for Conjunction or Tribulation Stage breakthroughs. After all, every family has a pampered mediocre junior.

Yun Shuying, on the other hand, was more like the stereotypical genius—born knowing.

Her cultivation rarely took detours; most of the time, she intuitively chose the right path. When hearing about possible detours from her master, she’d be surprised and think, “So it can be thought of this way.”

This left her more time to explore various cultivation arts and even worldly interests like flowers, wine, tea, and revelry. Though already a Conjunction Stage Elder, she still liked to party and get drunk, but at least maintained a proper front before others.

“Are you hurt?”

Yun Shuying took the Ling Tea and glanced at the bruise on Lin Dongming’s neck.

Only then did Lin Dongming realize a small bruise marked his neck—probably from the aftershock of sword energy when sparring with Tuoba Wanyu.

For cultivators, this was like a scrape and would heal quickly without attention. But Yun Shuying was sensitive about it.

This woman’s control desire was strong sometimes.

“I didn’t control my spiritual power well during training and got a minor injury. Sorry.” Lin Dongming’s tone was sincere; after all, when money was involved, the performance had to be good.

Yun Shuying frowned slightly and snapped her fingers, releasing a healing technique that instantly mended the bruise. “Protect this body for me. Don’t hurt it.”

“Okay.” Lin Dongming nodded but inwardly cursed wildly.

—Those who know understand it’s about keeping the appearance beautiful; those who don’t would think you’re planning to possess me.

“Also, I’m not drinking tea tonight. Bring me wine.” Yun Shuying took a sip of Ling Tea then tossed it aside, displeasure evident on her face.

“…You’ve been drinking quite a bit lately. Ling Wine can also harm your body…”

“Why do you care so much? I’m just a drinking companion—give me a little favor and you act like I’m stepping on your nose?”

Yun Shuying’s irritation grew.

“Alright, I’ll get the wine.” Lin Dongming was indifferent to such words. Unlike Yun Shuying, who was born into an immortal sect, he had heard far worse insults in his mortal life—people a hundred times worse than her.

Still, tonight was sure to bring more trouble.