Just as he had let out a breath of relief, the System’s voice rang out again:
【Ultimate cultivation mission issued: beco a true “max-level Senior Brother.”】
【Mission description: The host’s ultimate goal is to beco the indisputably perfect Senior Brother in the eyes of all living beings in Lingyun Sect, from the Great Elder to the miscellaneous disciples, from the guardian spiritual beasts to every blade of grass and tree. This was not a feat that could be accomplished overnight, and would require the tempering of ti and sincere communication.】
【Current overall approval: 0%.】
【Reminder: This mission has no specific ti limit and will accompany the host throughout his entire Senior Brother career. As approval rises to different stages, special titles, permissions, and final rewards will be unlocked. Host, please persevere and do not forget your original intention.】
Lu Fengmian: “……”
The fla of hope that had just been kindled was instantly extinguished, completely frozen through by this basin of icy water called the “ultimate mission.”
From core mbers to non-core mbers, from humans to non-humans, as long as they possessed intelligence, he needed to gain their complete approval?!
This was not so Senior Brother cultivation system; this was clearly a super hell mode of “maximizing the favorability of everyone in Lingyun Sect, while incidentally converting all things under heaven and earth”!
He seed to have already foreseen how exhausted he would beco in the future.
Just as Lu Fengmian was wailing inwardly, Venerable Lingxuan seed to have completed a rather satisfying task, and the oppressive “Sect Master authority” that had made Lu Fengmian feel pressured quietly faded by more than half.
He turned to face the enormous sect, and his tone beca aningful.
“Very well, now that you have joined the sect, there are so things you should know.”
Venerable Lingxuan spoke, his tone more casual than before: “Fengmian, do you know why your master had not taken a disciple for a thousand years, yet today made an exception and accepted you as his first disciple?”
Lu Fengmian imdiately put on a humble expression of seeking instruction: “This disciple was dull-witted. Master, please enlighten .”
“Yes, the first reason was naturally that you were handso, and that we were destined to be together.” Venerable Lingxuan said this frankly, even with the hint of a smile.
“But the second reason...” He paused, his gaze sweeping over the orderly yet complicated scene of the sect below, then gave a light sigh, his face revealing just the right amount of weariness.
“Your master has governed the sect for more than three hundred years.” His tone was very indifferent, as though he were speaking of sothing unrelated to himself.
“The sect’s structure had already stabilized. Everything had its rules, and every peak and hall operated independently. By rights, now should have been the ti to seek a mont of peace and devote oneself to cultivation.”
The ominous premonition in Lu Fengmian’s heart began to grow stronger and stronger.
Venerable Lingxuan turned to look at him, and the “warmth” in his eyes seed to beco a kind of encouragent? Or, more accurately, the relief of having found “a suitable tool person”?
Sure enough, Venerable Lingxuan’s very next sentence was:
“As the Sect Master’s first disciple and the sect’s Senior Brother, assisting your master with so daily sect affairs, looking after your junior brothers and junior sisters, and setting an example for the sect—these are all your responsibilities, and also excellent training.”
He said it so naturally that Lu Fengmian did not even know how to refute this seemingly reasonable but actually enormous trap.
“Master, this disciple has only just arrived, his cultivation was low, and his knowledge shallow. I fear it would be difficult for to take on such a duty.” Lu Fengmian struggled desperately.
“Ai, do not belittle yourself.” Venerable Lingxuan smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Cultivation can be improved slowly, and affairs can be learned slowly as well. With your master backing you, what was there for you to fear?”
“And besides.” He changed the subject, and a crafty glint flashed through his eyes. Only later did Lu Fengmian understand that this had been the look of “finally finding a successor.”
“Handling these trifling matters was the best way to temper the heart, broaden one’s horizons, and was greatly beneficial to cultivation. Look at those old fellows on the mountain peaks—which one of them had not gone through such tempering?”
Lu Fengmian: “……”
He had always felt that this kind of logic sounded a bit like bandit logic, but it also seed to have a certain amount of truth to it?
Venerable Lingxuan seed worried that he might go back on his word, and quickly added: “Cultivation was naturally the foundation. On the 1st and 15th of every month, you may co to Lingyun Hall to see . Your master will personally examine your cultivation and guide your cultivation thods.”
“If you encounter any difficulties, you may send a ssage at any ti—of course, unless it was an ergency, it would be best to ask everything clearly in one go. Your master has recently gained so insight and is researching a divine ability called ‘Eternal Great Dream,’ which requires so peace and quiet.”
The corner of Lu Fengmian’s mouth twitched slightly.
The 1st and the 15th of every month? Seeing him twice a month? A divine ability that required a quiet environnt to research? Could this absentee manager’s intentions have been any more obvious?!
“Very well, you can slowly learn the details later.” Venerable Lingxuan seed to be in an excellent mood, and casually tossed him a jade token engraved with cloud patterns.
“This is your identity jade token, and also proof of your belonging to Lingyun Peak. Your residence is in the side hall of Luo Xia Peak. The environnt there was quiet and suitable for cultivation. The sect rules, maps, and other information were all stored within this jade token, and you could consult them at any ti. If there was anything you did not understand, you could ask the deacons of the various peaks, or... hm, that old pedant in the Scripture Pavilion. Although he talked a little too much, his knowledge was vast.”
After finishing his instructions, the spiritual light around Venerable Lingxuan rippled slightly, and his figure began to beco sowhat illusory.
By Lu Fengmian’s ear, only one sentence echoing with obvious laughter remained:
“Fengmian, work hard. Your master thinks very highly of you, and believes you will surely beco the most outstanding Senior Brother in the history of Lingyun Sect! The future of the sect rests upon the shoulders of you young people!”
Before the words had even finished, he had already dispersed like blue smoke into the dense spiritual mist, leaving cleanly and decisively without the slightest reluctance.
Lu Fengmian tightly clenched that jade token, still carrying lingering warmth, and stood before the towering mountain gate, looking at the majestic sect before him, steeped in immortal aura and grandeur, as if danger lurked everywhere within it. In the mountain wind brushing past him, a faint trace of confusion rose in his heart.
He lowered his head to look at the jade token, then raised it to look toward the clouds where his master had disappeared.
Why was it that before he had even fully adjusted to changing the form of address from “Venerable” to “Master,” the burden on his shoulders had already shifted from “a new disciple striving hard in cultivation” to “an acting sect master who needed to handle daily sect affairs, look after disciples above and below, lead by example, and could only see his master twice a month”?
*
Today, three years later, as Lu Fengmian walked along the road leading to the martial arts ground, he recalled that scene before the mountain gate.
From solemnity to the smooth transition of “shirking responsibility,” and the mont he had ignorantly taken over a ss.
It felt as though it had happened in a previous life, and he had gained a deep and sorrowful practical understanding of his master’s theory of “tempering the Dao-heart.”
Three years! A full three years!
Every day, he got up before dawn, first completing “Morning Greetings,” then going to guide this junior brother in his cultivation technique, diating the conflict between those junior sisters, and also listening to the elders ramble on about sect affairs.
He even had to soothe those guardian spiritual beasts with their various tempers and qualifications that might well have exceeded his own, deal with the erudite but sharp-tongued artifact spirit of the Scripture Pavilion, and water and preach to the spiritual herbs that had already developed intelligence!
Working a 996 schedule? Even 24/7 nonstop work would have been easier than the life he had now! At least back then, after getting off work, once the phone was turned off, the world would beco peaceful.
Now? Heh, the Senior Brother’s communication jade token was on standby 24 hours a day and could ring at any mont—
“Senior Brother, save !”
“Senior Brother, Senior Brother Zhang stole my pill!”
“Senior Brother, the furnace in the artifact workshop seed to have exploded again!”
“Senior Brother, Lord Luwu from the spirit beast garden specifically asked for you to co brush his fur, saying other people didn’t do it smoothly enough...”
Lu Fengmian took a deep breath and slowly exhaled that foul air in his lungs called “wanting to get off work,” forcing a smile as he piled that signature smile back onto his face.
Perfect Senior Brother—his character setting could not collapse.
User Comments
0 comments from readers