Wei Mingyi’s gaze never left Wu Chongyun for a moment.
And Su Xuanjing, along with the others, decided to transfer the land to Wei Mingyi’s name without even a discussion.
Wei Mingyi knew the novice quests were essentially freebies, but when her Name Seal was actually imprinted on the deed, her mind still buzzed with slight confusion. Compared to her psychological expectations, everything had gone far too smoothly—so smoothly it felt like she had willingly thrown herself into a fire pit.
Su Xuanjing and the “senior members” of the Chongyuan Sect remained fairly composed.
The buyer had been intercepted by the Lu Clan, meaning that path was completely blocked.
Of course, most importantly, they always followed Su Xuanjing’s lead. Su Xuanjing was a sword cultivator, but she also practiced the Guizang Scripture in parallel. The current situation was the optimal outcome of her divination. A cultivator could doubt anything, but they could not doubt their own Dao. Otherwise, the very foundation of their Dao would be lost, easily breeding a Heart Devil within.
The deal was struck. The notification sound of her cheat item activating yanked the dazed Wei Mingyi back to reality.
She absently toyed with Wu Chongyun’s white hair, her eyes fixed on the system panel only she could see.
The achievement “Owns First Plot of Land” flashed briefly, followed by the appearance of some numerical values.
【Achievement Points: 100 (Friendly tip: can be used to purchase the Novice Gift Pack, originally priced at 10,000 points!)
Talent Points: 1 (Although you have entered the cultivation world, your First Layer of Meridian Opening cultivation was a friendly gift from the system. Sometimes, hard work is useless—time to cheat.)
Assets: Chongyuan Sect Land】
These values were easy to remember, but the string of explanations about Achievement Points and Talent Points that followed nearly overloaded Wei Mingyi’s brain. Achievement Points were akin to currency—they could be used to buy land and upgrade Spirit Veins. As for their source, quest and achievement rewards only accounted for a tiny fraction. The greater portion came from Reputation rewards. This meant the Chongyuan Sect had to be strengthened and expanded.
As for Talent Points, that was her “cheat.” She could use Talent Points to open her Qi Meridians, build her Dao Foundation, form her Golden Core, mold her Nascent Soul, and achieve a Grotto-Heaven. For every 100 Achievement Points she accumulated, 1 could be converted to a Talent Point. Based on Wei Mingyi’s current level, she could see that opening one Qi Meridian required one Talent Point. The requirements for subsequent upgrades were all in a locked state. But it was easy to guess the number of Talent Points needed would be astronomical.
Wei Mingyi inwardly cursed the game designers a couple of times, but still secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Quantification meant it was knowable. Having something was always better than nothing.
Wei Mingyi spent one hundred Achievement Points to buy the Novice Gift Pack. Her Achievement Points instantly zeroed out, but she obtained an invincible Mountain Protection Array called “Stronger When Faced With Strength,” and a Yellow-Tier Spirit Vein that could be upgraded. Upgrading required Achievement Points—going from Yellow Tier to Profound Tier needed five thousand Achievement Points, from Profound Tier to Earth Tier ten thousand, and upgrading to Heaven Tier cost twenty thousand. In any case, these were astronomical sums Wei Mingyi currently dared not even imagine.
Pushing aside thoughts of the future, Wei Mingyi tapped “Use” twice in succession.
As a sect, the Chongyuan Sect originally had a Mountain Protection Array, but it could at most defend against some ferocious beasts. If cultivators wanted to attack the Chongyuan Sect, tearing through the array was an easy feat. Su Xuanjing knew this well, but they had no money to fix it. At this moment, a surge of pure Qi rose above the Chongyuan Sect, connecting with the sun’s rays, erupting in a boundless clear light. But all of this lasted only a moment before vanishing like dissipating smoke and clouds. From the outside, the Chongyuan Sect still appeared as that poor little sect on the verge of bankruptcy.
“Hm? A Spirit Vein sprouting from the land? It’s a True Vein.” Su Xuanjing sensed the change within the Chongyuan Sect’s mountain gate, her expression instantly sharpening.
Wei Mingyi nodded and sighed, “But it’s only Yellow Tier.”
The vast majority of Spirit Veins in the Nine Provinces were controlled by the Aristocratic Families. Large Master-Disciple lineage sects might also have Spirit Veins, but how could they possibly be ceded? Heaven-Tier and Earth-Tier veins were almost never seen on the market. Profound-Tier and Yellow-Tier veins did circulate among sects, but they were not true Spirit Veins. They were False Veins—extensions branching off from a main vein.
It was like a tap water pipe. If a family like the Lu Clan didn’t want to lease it anymore, they could simply shut off the “valve,” and the Chongyuan Sect would have no Spirit Vein. True veins, coiling like dragons within the land beneath their feet, were called “True Veins.”
Su Xuanjing maintained a calm expression, but a storm raged within her heart. She said gravely, “Do not let anyone know of your divine ability!” When she had picked up Wei Mingyi, she had been dressed in bizarre clothing, looking quite peculiar. Yet she had cultivation, albeit only at the First Layer of Meridian Opening, which was still in harmony with the realm of the Nine Provinces. Su Xuanjing had cast a divination—if the Chongyuan Sect had a future, it would surely be tied to this person.
Wei Mingyi gave an affirmative sound in response.
The countdown to the sect’s bankruptcy was put on pause. But the assets already divided out, the Sect Leader had no intention of reclaiming.
In Wei Mingyi’s eyes, everyone in the sect exhibited a supreme sense of nonchalance.
As if living was meaningless, dying also didn’t matter.
Before Wei Mingyi could react, the Sect Leader, the Assistant Master, and the two Senior Sisters had already gone back, leaving only their retreating figures for her.
She roughly inventoried the Chongyuan Sect’s remaining assets. On the land that would be an overnight fortune in modern society, there were five towering peaks piercing the clouds, but only the Chongyuan Peak was inhabited. Wei Mingyi frowned slightly but quickly calmed herself. More wasteland meant greater potential for development. As for Chongyuan Peak, it had a Chongyuan Hall that served as a façade, though there were almost never any visitors. Setting aside the kitchen, the alchemy chamber, and other essential facilities, only the small courtyards for secluded cultivation remained—and none of those were for Wei Mingyi.
While unconscious, she had stayed in the Sect Leader’s courtyard. With all the recent tedious affairs in the Chongyuan Sect, there simply hadn’t been time to build her a new dwelling.
Now that Wu Chongyun, who couldn’t care for herself, had been assigned as her Shizun, it was only natural for Wei Mingyi to live with her. There was no need to construct new buildings.
“Shizun?” Wei Mingyi called out to her unresponsive Shizun, realizing belatedly that the Sect Leader and the others hadn’t told her how to care for her Shizun.
Having not spoken a word up until now, her Shizun was not only unable to walk, but was also a mute.
After pondering briefly, Wei Mingyi decided to adopt the Chongyuan Sect’s nonchalant attitude. The Mountain Protection Array was impregnable. She needed time to kick-start her brain’s intelligence, read through the cheat item’s instruction manual, and learn about this world she knew practically nothing about except that it was wicked.
But before that, she had to get her Shizun home.
Looking down, she could only see the expanse of white hair. Wei Mingyi’s expression turned subtle.
She was indeed a white-hair enthusiast, but when it was attached to a Perfected One, it probably signified immense suffering, didn’t it?
The wheelchair wheels rolled over the mountain path, producing a creaking sound. Wei Mingyi, doing this for the first time, had veins bulging on her wrists from the effort. She felt immensely grateful that the cheat item had gifted her a body already stepping onto the cultivation path. Otherwise, using her own strength, she would eventually tumble down the mountain, wheelchair and all.
Counting herself, the Chongyuan Sect only had six people. Everywhere she looked, it was completely empty.
When Wei Mingyi pushed the wheelchair in front of the Chongyuan Sect’s main hall, she did see a figure.
It was Mo Xuanxiao, the Assistant Master Hua Xiaozhu’s disciple—her Second Senior Sister.
At this moment, Mo Xuanxiao held a smoking pipe, her gaze arrogant and disdainful, as if she was about to lift her leg and step on someone.
Wei Mingyi: “?” How could there be smokers in the cultivation world?
Mo Xuanxiao bit the mouthpiece of her pipe, first saluting the nominal Assistant Master Wu Chongyun. Then she glanced at Wei Mingyi and asked in surprise, “Junior Sister pushed her here yourself?”
Wei Mingyi’s eyelid twitched. She asked cautiously, “Was I supposed to kick her here instead?”
Mo Xuanxiao: “…”
While the two were conversing, Wu Chongyun, who had remained very quiet, tapped the armrest of the wheelchair with her hand. Immediately, the wheels spun on their own, instantly pulling distance between herself and Wei Mingyi and Mo Xuanxiao.
Wei Mingyi was speechless.
So it was an automatic wheelchair after all.
“There’s something special about the Assistant Master,” Mo Xuanxiao lowered her voice. “Junior Sister, don’t let her get close to any cliffs.”
Before Wei Mingyi could ask for more details, Mo Xuanxiao nudged her, gesturing for her to chase after Wu Chongyun.
Wei Mingyi still didn’t quite understand, but she obeyed.
But besides being innately wicked, was everyone in the Nine Provinces also a cryptic riddler?
Two legs couldn’t outrun two wheels.
Wei Mingyi chased after Wu Chongyun as she entered a small courtyard with a plaque bearing the character “Wu” hanging on it. If nothing unexpected happened, this was her future home.
Though the small courtyard was simple and crude, it was quite neat. A pear tree, even older than the Chongyuan Sect itself, was planted there.
Her sickly, weak Shizun was under that pear tree, only she had her back turned to Wei Mingyi.
Wei Mingyi stared so hard she nearly bored holes through Wu Chongyun, but still couldn’t discern anything special. Tilting her head to look at the sky, Wei Mingyi let out a yawn.
It was getting late. This long, tiring day of waiting and labor was about to end. She was now both weary and hungry, and she imagined her Shizun felt the same.
Wei Mingyi carried the pots, pans, and bowls to the kitchen.
Although there were no signs of a fire ever being lit, luckily everything was well-stocked. The Chongyuan Sect hadn’t fallen so far as to be unable to afford rice.
In her previous life, Wei Mingyi couldn’t cook. However, she had collected over a hundred cooking videos. Now, having entered the cultivation world, her mind was considerably sharper. Randomly picking one to replicate should be child’s play, right?
Thus, under Wei Mingyi’s efforts, the Wu Courtyard within the Chongyuan Sect rarely saw billowing smoke rising from its chimney.
Half an hour later, Wei Mingyi emerged, holding a bowl of congee even blacker than her smoke-blackened face.
Although its appearance could only be described as tragic, at least it wasn’t poisonous.
The nutritional value of the Spirit Rice was still there, no worse than eating it raw.
“Shizun?” Wei Mingyi was surprised.
Wu Chongyun had come over herself in the wheelchair.
A flicker of a ripple appeared in those dead, still eyes.
At first, Wei Mingyi thought Wu Chongyun was looking at her, but she quickly realized Wu Chongyun was looking at the choking smoke.
Regret? What, did she want the courtyard to catch fire?
Wei Mingyi stepped aside, letting the whole small kitchen fall into Wu Chongyun’s view. She asked, “Shizun, are you hungry? What would you like to eat? Just point with your finger.”
Wu Chongyun’s gaze finally landed on Wei Mingyi’s hands. Her long lashes lowered, quickly concealing a fleeting flash of disdain. She produced a bottle of elixir and tossed it to Wei Mingyi.
An elixir to take before meals?
Wei Mingyi suddenly understood. She set the black mush on the stove, washed her hands and face, filled a bowl with warm water, then poured the elixir into her palm. She approached Wu Chongyun, bowing: “Shizun, open wide.”
Wu Chongyun’s brow furrowed.
Was this person a fool?
Her expression remained weary, devoid of any desire to speak.
She had initially intended to spin her wheelchair and leave, but when her eyes met Wei Mingyi’s bright gaze, she paused slightly.
In the end, she slowly raised her hand and took out another identical jade bottle, turning the side labeled “Fasting Pill” toward Wei Mingyi’s eyes.
Wei Mingyi: “…”
Alright, fine. She was the clown.
