Broken Emotion Peak, Peak Master’s Quiet Abode.
At this moment, Lu Li was using the soft glow of the night lamp to leaf through the latest issue of the “Cultivation World News Digest” sent over by the Sect’s Intelligence Hall.
The digest was filled with cultivation intelligence from all corners of the Void Profound Realm.
Although it was called cultivation intelligence, the actual contents of the digest were nothing more than mundane affairs: announcements of sect competitions, alerts about upcoming events, secret realm fluctuations spotted somewhere, or news about some troublemaker stirring up chaos…
Lu Li casually skimmed through it and suddenly felt an inexplicable wave of drowsiness wash over him.
“Sigh, so boring… Hm? What’s this…”
His eyes landed on an unusually brief news item in the digest.
His previously lax expression instantly froze.
Then Lu Li’s eyes shot wide open, as if about to swallow those few lines of text whole.
[It is reported that Sect Leader Xiao Yaxuan of the Heavenly Sword Sect, during her recent travels in Luoyun City, discovered a genius girl named Feng Lingshuang who possesses the rare Sword Bone talent.]
[Sect Leader Xiao, overjoyed beyond measure, made an exception to accept her as her sole disciple and is now cultivating her with full dedication…]
“Feng Lingshuang? Heavenly Sword Sect! Sole disciple?!”
Lu Li read the news item over three times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, then suddenly jumped up from his meditation mat, punching the air excitedly!
“Ahahaha… this is great! Heaven is truly on my side!”
“I was worried that if Feng Lingshuang, like in the original game storyline, took the Immortal Ascension Token from my cheap master’s family on Broken Emotion Peak, then came to Void Spirit Sect forcing me to accept her as a disciple, what would I do!”
“Ah… who would’ve thought! Who would’ve thought! This sword fanatic was actually intercepted by that old woman of the Heavenly Sword Sect!”
“Ahahaha… Heaven truly helps me!”
Lu Li paced back and forth in his Quiet Abode, his face glowing with excitement, no trace of fatigue remaining.
“Ahh… Feng Lingshuang! In the original story, she would come and kill her husband to prove her cultivation, seeing me talk with other disciples and then rush over to chop me up to sacrifice to her sword…”
“Even in some endings, she forcibly refined me into her sword spirit! And now she’s gone straight to the Heavenly Sword Sect!”
“Ahh! This is just fantastic! This is by far the best news I’ve gotten since I transmigrated!”
The overwhelming joy surged through Lu Li’s heart, making him want to set off firecrackers in celebration—more thrilling than pulling a double rare in a card draw in his previous life.
“Phew… Safe now! Much safer!”
Lu Li rubbed his hands, unable to contain his excitement.
“Now that Feng Lingshuang is gone, my situation is much more secure. As long as I only accept male disciples from now on, I can completely avoid being stabbed in the back!”
“Compared to that perverse master-disciple romantic cultivation nonsense, the traditional, hot-blooded, orthodox kind of relationship—like Xiao Yan and Yao Lao—is definitely more solid!”
At this moment, Lu Li was already envisioning himself, backed by a disciple recruitment rebate system, gathering a group of extraordinarily talented, respectful male disciples.
Together, master and disciples would defeat formidable enemies and evil villains, ultimately achieving the supreme Immortal Sect.
But then, the cautious nature of Lu Li made him grow nervously paranoid.
“Although in this world, accepting male disciples is relatively safer than female disciples, the disciple’s character is also something I must consider!”
Lu Li stroked his chin and decisively invoked his world-shaking wisdom!
“Yao Lao’s story taught us that before taking disciples, we need to pay attention to their conduct and emphasize moral cultivation!”
“The performances of Xiao Huohuo and Han Feng are ironclad proof! If I’m taking disciples, I want ones like Xiao Huohuo! No matter how far they advance, they’ll always remember Yao Lao’s kindness!”
“Someone like That Third just won’t do—he’s already a Divine King and yet doesn’t lift a finger to help his master.”
“On the other hand, compared to Han Feng and Gu Yue Fangyuan, That Third isn’t totally unacceptable either…”
“As for Ye Fan, that disaster star, and Huo Wang, the crazy lunatic—whoever wants to take them can go ahead!”
“Broken Emotion Peak’s little temple can’t hold such great gods anyway, and this poor Daoist still hopes to live a few more years…”
The more Lu Li thought about it, the more he felt that when he took disciples, he should strengthen their ideological and moral education—nurturing them into perfect characters like Xiao Huohuo, who are loyal, righteous, and filial to their master.
“Yes! That’s exactly what I should do!”
But before Lu Li could finish his thought, a sudden chill brushed across his spine, as if a faint draft swept lightly over the back of his neck.
“Hm?”
Lu Li stopped his daydreaming and frowned in confusion.
“Hiss… strange, I clearly closed all the doors and windows in the Quiet Abode just now. Where is this wind coming from?”
Lu Li glanced suspiciously around the room.
The night lamp’s soft light filled every corner of the Quiet Abode.
Apart from himself, the place was empty.
The bronze Boshan incense burner, meditation mat, low table, bookshelves—all remained quietly in place with no abnormalities.
“Hm? Just my imagination?”
Lu Li rubbed the back of his head and muttered softly,
“Or maybe I’ve been too tense lately and got a bit neurotic?”
What Lu Li did not know was that not far from him at the Quiet Abode’s door, Gu Qingying was holding her breath and standing silently.
Having just finished her bath at the East Warm Pavilion and changed into fresh clothes, Gu Qingying was surrounded by a faint, almost imperceptible energy fluctuation.
It was the cognitive modification barrier released by her internal
[Cognition Modification System].
This could distort the thoughts and perceptions of those around her, making them subconsciously ignore Gu Qingying’s presence.
It categorized her breathing, figure, and all traces of existence as background information that required no attention.
Gu Qingying held her breath and, like a tiptoeing little cat, silently slipped from the doorway to stand directly in front of Lu Li.
Watching her master seriously reading the News Digest, completely unaware of her presence, Gu Qingying’s mischievous side suddenly flared up like a fox that just stole a chicken.
She stretched out her slender, fair palm and teasingly waved it in front of Lu Li’s eyes, almost brushing his long eyelashes, while whispering softly into his ear.
“Hey~ Master~ Master~ Can you see me?”
“Can you see your most, most, most adorable, most obedient little disciple here?”
Seeing that Lu Li didn’t even blink and remained lost in his own world, Gu Qingying’s smile grew even brighter, her violet eyes sparkling with the cunning light of a successful prank.
“Hehehe… Master really can’t see me! Looks like this system actually works!”
Gu Qingying proudly scrunched her little nose, but then frowned in dissatisfaction.
“Ah… what a pity, the system’s ability to modify others’ cognition is really limited…”
“Besides, the specific modifications have restrictions—it can’t deviate too far from reality, nor can it forcibly change the thoughts of targets whose cultivation is far higher than mine…”
“Ah… if only this system were unlimited, letting me freely modify the cognition of surrounding targets~”
“Then I could brainwash Master, making him officially accept me as his female disciple.”
“Even… directly implant thoughts, making him believe I’m his Dao Companion…”
The more Gu Qingying thought about it, the more excited she became, ending with her face blushing deeply.
But alas, these were only her fantasies.
At present, the modification system she held could only alter how others perceived her appearance and gender, as well as reduce her presence to achieve invisibility.
Moreover, the target’s cultivation could not exceed hers by too much.
Targets at the same Qi Refining stage or ordinary mortals wouldn’t notice anything odd after modification.
Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage like Lu Li might detect slight anomalies, but as long as she didn’t go overboard, they wouldn’t find out.
At the Golden Core stage, the abnormality would be obvious, though still affected; Nascent Soul and higher realms would immediately see through her tricks.
Though the system’s current “modification” power was far from impressive, the good news was that it would evolve with Gu Qingying’s cultivation and unlock new abilities over time.
Even so, with the current cognition modification ability, she could handle someone like Lu Li, whose cultivation was only at Foundation Establishment.
Thinking all this, Gu Qingying’s courage grew steadily bolder.
She then licked her lips and looked at her master with a sultry gaze.
“Hehehe~ Master, since you can’t see me, your disciple is going to be quite cheeky~”