Some disciples might feel jealous when facing someone slightly stronger than them.
However, Qianqiu's appearance and innate talent now utterly crushed theirs, robbing them of any confidence to even compare themselves to her.
All that remained was a profound sense of inferiority.
Among them were even a few disciples who had once bullied Qianqiu. Seeing the scene before them, panic gripped their hearts, and they hid deep within the crowd, terrified of catching Qianqiu's eye.
Those disciples with greater foresight could only conclude that Forgetful Peak was about to rise to prominence. First, Guliang Yuan advanced to the Nascent Soul realm in a single day, and then Qianqiu awakened her spiritual roots overnight—this was clearly a portent of a great flourishing!
The myriad attitudes of the crowd were too numerous to list one by one.
Lü Qingmei flicked her sleeve and returned to her seat:
"The master-disciple ceremony isn't over yet. Let's continue."
Hearing Lü Qingmei's words, the protocol elder hurriedly stepped forward to resume presiding over the ceremony:
"Master Guliang, please return to your seat. The ceremony is not yet finished."
"Mm."
The initiation ceremony continued. After Qianqiu paid her respects to the founding masters, she came before Guliang Yuan and kowtowed three resounding times. Once Guliang Yuan drank the master-disciple tea, this set of rituals was complete.
As Qianqiu stood up, Guliang Yuan brushed his hand across the storage ring on his finger, and seven magical treasures floated before his chest, with the Autumn Water Sword prominently among them!
Guliang Yuan flicked his hand, and a gentle wave of spiritual energy carried these magical treasures directly to Qianqiu. Maintaining a completely calm and unperturbed expression, he spoke earnestly and profoundly:
"These magical treasures were acquired by your master in my early years. Today, I bestow them upon you."
"I hope you will cultivate diligently in the future and not let down your master's high expectations!"
Though Qianqiu did not recognize magical treasures, she could tell from the crimson-eyed gazes of the disciples below that these were extraordinary items.
Especially the Autumn Water Sword—she had seen with her own eyes when the sect leader bestowed this supreme divine weapon upon her master.
Never had she imagined that her master would hold nothing back and hand all of them over to her.
A renewed wave of emotion stirred within Qianqiu's heart: "Master!"
"Put them away."
"Mm!" Qianqiu nodded heavily.
While Guliang Yuan and his disciple played the roles of a compassionate master and a filial child, the expressions of the other peak masters turned as dark as charcoal.
Weren't these the exact items you asked us for the day before yesterday? How on earth did they suddenly become things acquired in your early years?!
Standing right in front of the rightful owners while taking our gifts to give to your disciple—have you no shame at all?!
Guliang Yuan cared nothing for such trifles. You say they're yours? Try calling them and see if they answer!
"Ding! Host has bestowed the supreme-tier Heaven-grade magical treasure Autumn Water Sword upon a disciple, triggering a 5,000-fold return. The return reward is..."
Chapter 19: Master, Meeting You Is Truly My Good Fortune
"Ding! Host has bestowed the supreme-tier Heaven-grade magical treasure Autumn Water Sword upon a disciple, triggering a 5,000-fold return. Return reward—middle-tier spiritual treasure: Earth-Nine Swords."
"Twelve Earth Swords, which can divide or combine. United as one, they form a supreme-tier spiritual treasure, existence second only to immortal artifacts. Dividing into twelve allows the deployment of the Zi-Wu Sword Formation, possessing peerless killing power."
"The twelve swords correspond to the twelve earthly branches, and Earth-Nine corresponds to Shen-metal, making a perfect match for Geng-metal swordsmanship."
As Guliang Yuan looked at the description of the Earth-Nine Swords, he felt a mix of delight and silent cursing.
Isn't this identical to the marketing tactics of certain corporations from his past life?!
They release a series set, making people unable to resist collecting them all!
It's fine if you haven't obtained any piece of the series, but once you get one or several of them, the desire to complete the collection is infinitely magnified, driving people to spend money.
Little System, did you really think you could hook me with this trick?
Hmph!
Well, congratulations—you guessed right!
Guliang Yuan made up his mind that in the future, he must bestow more sword artifacts upon his disciple to gather all twelve Earth Swords.
The system prompt continued to ring out:
"Ding! Host has bestowed the Xuan-grade magical treasure Purple Gold Ring upon a disciple, triggering an 80-fold return. Return reward: Earth-grade magical treasure Purple Cloud Ring."
"Ding! Host has bestowed the Earth-grade magical treasure Auspicious Cloud Umbrella upon a disciple, triggering a 20-fold return. Return reward: Earth-grade magical treasure Azure Silk Umbrella."
"Ding! Host has bestowed the Xuan-grade magical treasure..."
The remaining six magical treasures also triggered the master-disciple return system, though the return multipliers weren't very large. The highest one only returned a Heaven-grade magical treasure, and that particular item happened to be an embroidered bellyband!
To Guliang Yuan, these things were better than nothing. He simply tossed them into the system space, thinking he would draw some useful items to bestow when he had time, or perhaps find someone to trade them for other magical treasures so he could test his luck another day for a high-multiplier return.
Seeing Qianqiu carefully cradling these magical treasures, Guliang Yuan smacked his forehead—he had forgotten to give her a storage pouch.
Glancing at the spatial ring in his hand, a thought crossed Guliang Yuan's mind. He removed it and handed it over to Qianqiu along with the spiritual stones and talismans inside:
"Your master was getting forgetful. From now on, this spatial ring belongs to you. Take it to hold your spiritual items."
Qianqiu did not know what a spatial ring signified; she only knew that her master considered her in everything. She was so moved she almost wanted to cry, but refusing to lose face for her master in full view of the crowd, she forcefully suppressed her emotions:
"Thank you, Master."
"Ding! Host has bestowed the Heaven-grade magical treasure spatial ring, triggering a 5,000-fold return. Return reward: Mustard Seed Bracelet."
"Mustard Seed Bracelet, a middle-tier spiritual treasure containing a massive internal storage space capable of holding eighteen towering mountains!"
"Ding! Host has bestowed 5,000 top-tier spiritual stones, triggering a 3-fold return. Return reward: 15,000 top-tier spiritual stones."
"Ding! Host has bestowed talismans..."
After the flurry of returns, Guliang Yuan was thoroughly satisfied. Even excluding the storage bracelet, his assets had directly multiplied nearly tenfold.
While Guliang Yuan was well pleased, the disciples below watched as he bestowed treasure after treasure, their expressions twisting with envy; some even had eyes turning entirely crimson!
Even a few elite and personal disciples found themselves breathing heavily, their spiritual energy running unstably.
This is utterly lacking in human decency!
Ordinary elite disciples of the Golden Core Stage only possessed a few Xuan-grade magical treasures for self-defense.
Earth-grade magical treasures were used strictly as trump cards!
As for Heaven-grade magical treasures, even Nascent Soul cultivators regarded them as ultimate trump cards!
One had to remember that this was only because they were disciples of a holy land; outside cultivators had it even worse.
Yet the moment Guliang Yuan made a move, he handed out multiple Earth-grade magical treasures and two Heaven-grade magical treasures!
Granted, Qianqiu possessed extraordinary talent, but she was only at the Qi Condensation stage! Isn't this pampering her way too much?!
Not only the ordinary disciples, but the other peak masters also felt that Guliang Yuan had gone a bit too far.
Excessive pampering was not good for a disciple.
However, since this was an internal matter of Forgetful Peak, it was not their place to speak up.
And though they said nothing, Guliang Yuan certainly remembered them.
Once Qianqiu had put away all the magical treasures, Guliang Yuan pointed toward Lü Qingmei and introduced her to Qianqiu: "This is your Senior Sister Lü, master of Infinite Peak and also the sect leader of our Taishang Holy Land."
Hearing this, Qianqiu walked over to Lü Qingmei, curtsied, and bowed: "Greetings, Senior Sister Lü."
Lü Qingmei rose, first casting a bewitching sideways glance at Guliang Yuan before flipping her hand to produce a pale purple thin gauze:
"When a granduncle accepts a disciple, I, as the sect leader, cannot show up empty-handed."
"This Purple Cloud Veil was something I used in my early years. Although it has no official grade, it can conceal one's appearance to the point that even beings of the Deity Transformation realm cannot pierce it with their divine sense."
"Walking the path of cultivation, beauty is a blessing, but sometimes it is also a curse."
"Now that I fear nothing, I bestow this Purple Cloud Veil upon Junior Sister."
Qianqiu did not accept it immediately. Instead, she turned to look at Guliang Yuan. Only after he nodded did she take it:
"Many thanks, Senior Sister."
Guliang Yuan introduced the next person: "The one beside her is Senior Brother Li of Heavenly Mystery Peak."
Qianqiu went to pay her respects and received yet another magical treasure.
Soon, the masters of all six peaks had been greeted one by one, and Qianqiu had acquired six more magical treasures.
Seeing this scene, the disciples below grew somewhat numb. Making a rough calculation, Qianqiu's current net worth was likely wealthier than most Nascent Soul cultivators!
Granduncle Master, do you still lack disciples? I want to apprentice too!
The master-disciple ceremony came to a perfect conclusion, and the masters of the six peaks along with ten thousand disciples took their leave and departed.
Guliang Yuan felt a tinge of regret. According to the rules of the holy land, such grand fanfare was reserved only for taking a primary disciple; subsequent apprentices would not receive such treatment.
Otherwise, if he could fleece them every time he took a disciple, he would grow wealthy in no time.
When the very last person had left Forgetful Peak and the peak-guarding grand array activated once more, Qianqiu, who had suppressed her emotions for so long, could no longer control herself. She flung herself directly into Guliang Yuan's embrace:
"Master, meeting you is truly my good fortune."
As she spoke, teardrops began to fall.
At first they came in a patter, and soon she was weeping uncontrollably.
It was as if she wanted to vent all the grievances she had suffered over the years and all the joy in her heart through this bitter cry.
Guliang Yuan looked at the score of one hundred for infatuation floating above Qianqiu's head, gently stroked her hair, and said softly: "Cry, cry it all out. Once it's all out, you'll feel better."
Holding Qianqiu like that, Guliang Yuan had no idea how long she cried until she suddenly fell silent.
Looking down, Guliang Yuan saw that Qianqiu had exhausted herself emotionally through such extreme grief and joy, and had fallen asleep.
His downward movement seemed to make Qianqiu uncomfortable; she rubbed her cheek back and forth against Guliang Yuan's chest, found a comfortable spot, and continued to sleep soundly.
Mumbled words occasionally escaped her lips:
"Master, why are you so good to me..."
"I have spiritual roots... I can cultivate too..."
Guliang Yuan smiled and shook his head, then carried Qianqiu back to her bed and tucked her in.
Following the departure of the disciples, everything that had happened on Forgetful Peak swiftly spread throughout the entire Taishang Holy Land!
From that day on, the label of "ultimate simp" attached to Guliang Yuan was completely discarded, replaced entirely by the title of "disciple-pampering maniac"!
Chapter 20: Son of Luck? Hand Him Over!
Inside a nameless cave dwelling, a youth with refined features sat cross-legged with his five centers facing the heavens.
Five elemental energies—gold, wood, water, fire, and earth—circled his body. Though he was only at the early Foundation Establishment stage, he radiated a pressure rivalling that of someone at the Great Circle of Foundation Establishment.
This youth was none of other than Meng Yao's beloved, Ye Fan.
As Ye Fan concluded his cultivation session, his aura of spiritual energy retracted inward, and his early Foundation Establishment cultivation level plummeted step by step until it finally settled at around the eighth or ninth layer of Qi Condensation.
Concealing one's cultivation—this was standard equipment for a Son of Luck!
Stepping out of the cave, Ye Fan spoke as if talking to himself or perhaps conversing with someone:
"Master, based on my current cultivation, what do you think the chances are of assassinating Guliang Yuan?"
Scarcely had Ye Fan finished speaking when the jade pendant hanging at his chest trembled violently. An old man with white hair, clad in white clothes and white shoes, stepped out from it.
Only, the old man's figure was somewhat translucent, making it instantly apparent that he was in the state of a primordial spirit.
The old man stroked his beard and chuckled: "Foolish child, you are too impatient."
"That Guliang Yuan is merely at mid Foundation Establishment. With your current abilities, you could indeed kill him."
"However, this comes with one prerequisite: he must be entirely unescorted and traveling alone."
"Otherwise, any random elder by his side could kill you instantly."
Ye Fan clenched his fists in frustration:
"Not only was my childhood sweetheart stolen away, but a few days ago he nearly beat me to death! If I don't vent this anger, my heart will never find peace!"
The old man offered words of comfort: "A gentleman takes his revenge ten years later. For now, the most crucial course of action is to leave Dongzhou and seek out the opportunities I mentioned, allowing you to grow stronger."
"I too have a score to settle with the Taishang Sect. With my assistance, the day you trample beneath your feet the seven peaks of Taishang will surely arrive!"
"Mm!" Ye Fan nodded heavily.
"By the way, Master, isn't that the Taishang Holy Land? Why do you always call it the Taishang Sect?"
Squinting his eyes, the old man gazed into the distant horizon: "That matter goes all back to the founding of the Dragon-Supporting Court..."
Before the old man could finish his sentence, he suddenly sensed something and whipped his head around:
"Who's there?!"
With a loud shout, his voice transformed into waves of sound that surged directly toward a certain ancient tree lurking in the shadows!
Boom!
The sonic wave collided with the ancient tree, shattering the trunk—which required ten men to encircle—into splinters!
Amidst the sound of the explosion, a human figure flickered in and out of view in mid-air. The next moment, the figure transformed into a streak of light and instantly drilled into another ancient tree.
Then, repeating the same trick, the figure continuously shifted, shuttling between one ancient tree and the next, vanishing twenty to thirty miles away in the blink of an eye.
Just as the old man was about to give chase, a crisp female voice suddenly rang out:
"Ye Fan, is that you?"
The old man's expression shifted through a series of changes before he finally transformed into a streak of light and dove back into the jade pendant.
Leaving behind only the words "This place is not safe for long," he fell completely silent.
The moment the old man vanished into the jade pendant, Meng Yao's figure emerged from the forest.
Catching sight of Ye Fan, she discarded her aloof attitude toward Guliang Yuan and threw herself directly into Ye Fan's embrace:
"Wuwuwu, Ye Fan, I've finally found you."
Caught in her embrace, Ye Fan instinctively wrapped his arms around Meng Yao's waist. Judging by the practiced familiarity of the motion, this was clearly not the first time they had done such a thing.
"Yao'er, what happened to you?"
Weeping, Meng Yao recounted all the grievances she had suffered over the past few days to Ye Fan.
Naturally, she omitted her attempt to seduce Guliang Yuan, claiming instead that Guliang Yuan had forced himself upon her and that she had refused to submit, which ultimately provoked his wrath and brought about his threat to annihilate the Meng family.
Upon hearing this, Ye Fan's first reaction was not anger, but rather sheer disbelief.
How could that be?
Isn't Guliang Yuan just a good-for-nothing who only knew how to idle his life away? How could he possibly possess such profound insight as to achieve enlightenment overnight and step straight into the Nascent Soul realm?
Though he had nearly been beaten to death by the elders of Forgetful Peak previously, deep down, he still looked down on Guliang Yuan.
He had always believed that if he had Guliang Yuan's background and resources, he would certainly have done a much better job.
Yet now, things seemed rather different...
Despite his lingering unwillingness, Ye Fan retained his reason. He patted Meng Yao's shoulder: "Yao'er, let's leave. We must leave Dongzhou. With my current cultivation, I am still no match for Guliang Yuan."
"But I promise you—fifty years, no, ten years from now, I will bring you back and make Guliang Yuan pay the price he deserves!"
Listening to Ye Fan's words, Meng Yao's expression shifted slightly before she put on a wronged look and said:
"Of course I want nothing more than to leave with you, but what about my family?"
"Besides, Guliang Yuan bullied you so fiercely and humiliated me so deeply. My heart refuses to rest without making him pay a price."
"Ye Fan, didn't you say you just took on a powerful master?"
"Why don't we find a way to ask your master to finish off Guliang Yuan? Wouldn't all these problems be solved?"
A troubled look crossed Ye Fan's face, and he immediately explained to Meng Yao:
"My master's situation is somewhat special. He cannot easily make a move."
Meng Yao retorted: "What do you mean by 'cannot easily make a move'? Our lives are on the line right now! If he doesn't make a move now, when will he?"
"It's not like you think..."
While Ye Fan was busy explaining to Meng Yao, the figure that had been hiding in the shadows earlier had fled through the forest by utilizing the trees, traveling at top speed until it finally arrived within the Taishang Holy Land.
At that moment, Guliang Yuan was strolling through the outer disciple area. Wherever he went, disciples respectfully cupped their fists in salute, addressing him as Granduncle Master.
Guliang Yuan nodded in acknowledgment one by one, appearing quite approachable.
His purpose in coming here, naturally, was to check for any missed disciples and see if he could find a suitable apprentice.
The result was clearly negative; there were no more suitable candidates.
Feeling slightly disappointed, Guliang Yuan realized that if he wanted to find more disciples in the future, he would have to look outside the sect.
Right at that moment, Song Rentou's figure flashed into existence beside Guliang Yuan, transmitting his voice via divine sense:
"Master Uncle, I've finally found you. There's another major discovery regarding Ye Fan."
"Oh? What discovery?"
"Hidden inside the jade pendant hanging at Ye Fan's chest is the remnant soul of a powerful expert. Based on my estimation, this person must have been at least in the Void Refining Realm during their lifetime, and the Integration Realm is not entirely impossible."
"Furthermore, this person likely used to hold a grudge against our sect."
Hearing Song Rentou's words, Guliang Yuan actually felt a sense of relief.
The unknown was what caused the most anxiety; now that he knew the background of Ye Fan, he naturally felt at ease.
Ah, the grandpas inside jade pendants.
He had snatched the childhood sweetheart of this protagonist, beaten him half to death, and now the youth would rely on the teachings of the grandpa inside the pendant to awaken some divine physique or the other. Eventually, he would achieve success in his cultivation, beat him to death, and win back the beauty.
What a classic underdog-rises-to-power trope.
Guliang Yuan was too tired to even make a sarcastic remark; he simply turned to tell Song Rentou:
"I've confirmed it. This Ye Fan is the legendary Son of Luck."
The Son of Luck?!
Hearing this archaic term, Song Rentou trembled all over.
There was an ancient legend in the realm of cultivation: there existed a certain kind of person in the world whose luck defied the heavens and who enjoyed the favor of the heavenly Dao, often achieving extraordinary accomplishments.
Such people were known as Sons of Luck!
Yet, although Sons of Luck were extraordinary, those who grew close to them invariably suffered terrible misfortune.
The parents of a Son of Luck were destined to die early deaths.
The friends of a Son of Luck always met premature ends.
The romantic partners of a Son of Luck were constantly stolen away.
The sect to which a Son of Luck belonged was guaranteed to face disaster!
Later on, a senior expert pierced through the heavenly secrets, revealing that the growth of a Son of Luck was actually a process of plundering fortune!
They plundered the fortune of their sect, friends, and family for their own use, and only through this could they step upward to the heavens and turn peril into safety!
Yet strangely, before the Son of Luck rose to prominence, people could not detect it, and even the person himself remained entirely unaware.
Therefore, to prevent such a scenario from occurring, the various holy lands had joined forces and finally devised a method.
That method was the art of suppressing fortune!
Some holy lands suppressed fortune with divine beasts, serving as sect-protecting divine beasts.
Other holy lands suppressed fortune with spiritual treasures, serving as sect-protecting spiritual treasures.
Some used spiritual objects, while others used formations; the methods varied.
This way, even if a Son of Luck joined a holy land, the sect's fortune would not be shaken as a result.
Instead, the sect would gain an exceptionally outstanding disciple through it all.