A wiry and elegant 17-year-old girl stepped up beside Li Cheng, her presence so close that, for a fleeting moment, her straight, sleek, long-layered cut of light chestnut hair lightly brushed against him.
When Li Cheng turned to the girl, he was greeted by her signature faint smile from her pink lips.
Instinctively, he almost moved the fan, covering most of his face, to block his entire view.
However, that minor action would definitely be seen by this girl. Thus, Li Cheng, like a coquettish fairy, 'obediently' parted half of the fan downwards slowly.
"...Big Sister. Do you need something from me?"
"Before that."
With the tips of her fingers, she skillfully moved the fan, forcing his unwilling eyes to confront her soothing verdant eyes.
Li Cheng panicked inwardly and stepped back; the fan returned to its original position.
"Your acting so weird, Little Cheng~"
As her way of talking retained the same, Li Cheng deduced that the perfume's effects were now over.
Thankfully, he had Kuan Yin to help reduce the time it lingered. In normal circumstances, one bottle lasted a week and he had taken half a bottle.
Out of all the people Li Cheng did not want to meet with the perfume, it was not the Sect Master or even his clingy brother that he did not want to meet the most, but in fact this uncanny, pretty girl.
"I know my brother asked you to stop me from leaving my room."
"I don't mind letting you go."
"What?" Li Cheng yelped.
Usually this girl would always be the greatest wall preventing him from doing his solo activities. After the beauty mental training incident in the past, this girl had in some sense become another clingy sibling of his. Unlike his brother's affection, this girl treated him more like an amusing toy to play with.
Always teasing and messing with him.
Li Cheng knitted his brows. "What do you want me to do? You know how it is. If it's anything too excessive I won't do it. And if it makes me stand out, count me out."
"I just want to follow you for today."
"That's it?"
The girl didn't respond. But the faint smile on her face seemed to briefly reveal her pearly-white teeth.
'I don't know what tricks this bratty girl is planning, but now I have the means to easily shake her off,' Li Cheng thought.
"Fine. By the way…Why do you keep gazing at me so deeply?"
"Oh my, Little Cheng, you're not going to make a dainty maiden say it out loud are you?" She girlishly gestured her right hand to her lips.
Li Cheng didn't say anything.
If it weren't for the fact that this scene was an uncommon but not rare occurrence in this corridor, the passing male cultivators would certainly be sharpening their fangs at Li Cheng.
"Keep staring as you like," Li Cheng said, politely. Though it was perfunctory.
'Eyes of the… No, let's make it a habit to not say it in my mind in case someone can read my mind.'
The encounter with the Great Buddha had made him be more cautious.
Eyes of the Strongest Sect Master!
[Name: Li Wanran]
[Cultivation Level: Foundation Establishment Mid-Stage]
[Bloodline: None ]
[Talent: A- Grade]
'As expected from the girl who was once a core disciple of the 3rd generation. She's pretty talented for her age and just a minor grade below my big brother. Too bad I can't see her physique.'
Li Wanran was known to have a special physique, but apparently none of the specialists and cultivators could identify it. Unfortunately, Li Cheng at his level of mastery was unable to perceive the mystery.
Li Cheng then noticed something amiss.
'System, why did Young Miss's name have her other name in parenthesis? I believe that Li Wanran wasn't her original name before.'
He paused to think. 'Is it because Li Wanran had given up her name upon entering the Li Sect?'
It should be known again that the Li Sect was also a powerful clan. In order to enter into the clan/sect, they were required to give up their original name. Because of this, the Li Sect had the least amount of disciples compared to the other Great Southern Sects.
Despite this, there were still many people willing to forgo this harsh condition and coming each year on the day of recruitment to change their fates into becoming a cultivator under this renown sect.
Once these taken in disciples were qualified to be elevated to an Elder status, they would be given the Li bloodline, officially welcomed into the Li Clan's family.
[You have your answer. As for your Elder disciple, she's a special case. But it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.]
'Because she transcended or something?'
The System remained silent.
'I will take your silence as confirmation.'
While Li Cheng was musing, Li Wanran was continuing to gaze at his blue eyes.
She was wondering why she felt he was acting a little strange today. But she barely took it seriously.
'I think I've teased him enough now. If it goes for too long, Little Cheng will be upset,' she thought.
Li Wanran finally moved her gaze away, prompting Li Cheng to rouse from his thoughts and stop as well.
She moved her head towards the corridors, signalling.
Li Cheng then walked past her and headed to the city's outskirts.
Until Li Cheng was a considerable distance from her, she followed along making sure that she was inconspicuous to her surroundings in relation to Li Cheng.
This was the standard routine between them when moving together without Li Cheng's brother.
While caressing the bun of her long hair, she had once said to Li Cheng's utter shock, "Being a pretty maiden is too troublesome."
At that time, Li Cheng wasn't just shocked because of her unreal words. It was because Li Cheng could tell that she was being serious about it and wasn't showing off. Instead, she was quite annoyed.
***
"Little Cheng, you were at the scene weren't you?"
"Quit being privy, I said it's none of your business," he said nonchalantly.
The two were almost at the Li Sect's gates.
They were communicating through their spiritual sense. Due to Li Cheng's adamant persistence, even now when hardly anyone was around, they were not talking through their mouths. But the distance between has been bridged closer.
"You can't hide it from me. I have known for so long that you like to hang around the western part of the city… particularly playing in the forest hehe~"
Li Cheng swallowed his saliva and felt a slight chill for a moment. Acting calm he said, "Did you stalk me or my brother?"
"Little Wei had accidentally spilled the beans a few times. Don't worry, it was just a slip of the tongue. He never directly said where, but from the clues I can pinpoint it."
Li Cheng thought, 'At least she didn't stalk either of us…?' He didn't want to know the answer to that thought.
"It's the closest area to the Li Sect where I can have some peace and quiet. If I cultivate in my room, I'm going to disturbed by you and my brother after all."
"You really don't care too much about cultivating, huh? Well as I've said before, I'm the same as you in that regard."
Li Cheng didn't think this was strange despite her being one of the geniuses. Most of the time, without the adventuring and all the exciting things, it's literally just sitting in the room and meditating all day.
Remember, he was still at the Qi Condensation, and he was already dying.
He wouldn't be able to survive meditating for a year with his talent!
For someone like him who had experienced the wondrous, interesting pastimes of Earth, this was basically hell for his generation.
He wanted his damn internet!
Thank god he had quite an interest in many of the books in this world as before it was just novels and manga. The place still had many new experiences waiting to be explored.
"Halt. No disciples are allowed to go outside for the time being." One of the young elders stopped him.
Li Cheng took a look around and noticed that there were 3 other elders besides the one in front at the gate. Usually, there were only 1 or 2. He also wasn't familiar with any of them.
"Sorry. I was just taking a peek outside."
"At least your honest junior. We've been getting a lot of arrogant brats and curious ones like you wanting to go out." After saying this, the new gate guard went back to his post. His eyes still lingered on Li Cheng.
Li Cheng spun around and saw that faint smiling girl in the distance. "You knew this, right?"
"I sure did~" she cutely responded.
Li Cheng wasn't fazed or upset. "Guess we have to return."
"We do so."
With a slight twirl of her feet, which added an ephemeral mysterious charm to her casual walk, she walked back into the Li Sect.
Li Cheng followed her, away from the vision of the gate guards that had stopped laying their eyes on him.
Not hearing Li Cheng say anything for a period, Li Wanran asked, "You shouldn't make your Big Sister wait."
Her footsteps then came to a stop.
"Eh?"
She turned around and searched like an eagle.
But, she couldn't see his figure.
Her connection with Li Cheng was also gone without a trace.
***
Li Cheng teleported back to the city's outskirts, close to where his hideout was.
The first thing he did before he could fully capture the new sight was to activate the Three Realms Illusion.
Fortunately, he felt the illusion react, and now he was safely invisible to the outside world.
Despite the devastation in the nearby western part of the city, the Three Realms Illusion was still intact.
The illusion required the caster to be quite familiar with its range of coverage. That was why it was only this small western part and this particular area of the outskirts that he could cast and maintain the illusion.
Li Cheng also had to make sure that things within the actual world within the illusion didn't change too much. Otherwise, it may cause some distortions or not work with his current cultivation base.
'In normal circumstances, people wouldn't be able to just trespass into the Li Sect as it naturally had its formations and traps for intruders. I had to use one of the more breaching talismans to escape out. Hopefully the warp was not detected.'
It wasn't wise to be wasteful, but he was under urgency.
It is better to be safe than sorry.
Li Cheng surveyed the area. Without needing to activate his eyes, he could tell that these cultivators here were experts.
At least in the Nascent Soul he guessed.
'Should I take some time to listen? No forget it, my brother may go really crazy if I don't see him soon. It also wouldn't be good if the sect realises that I'm missing since all disciples should be in the sect right now.'
His eyes subconsciously rolled to the sky as he took out the miniature world.
Yes, this time there were no rumbling Heavens.
The sky was a little dull today, but still pretty clear.
This was pleasing. If it looked perfectly clear, Li Cheng had doubts.
He was somewhat traumatised because the Heavens always seem to be against him.
Or rather it should be said, Li Cheng was the one always provoking the Heavens, unintentionally supposedly.
Having set up the portal, Li Cheng entered.
FLASH!
'Woah.'
Li Cheng was slightly startled by the entrance of the gigantic azure egg. This towering scene was something he had to get used to. If it weren't for the mountain being relatively far away, one may be led to believe that this egg was taller than the ancient, grand mountain itself!
"Now then… what should I do first?"
He stood on the spot and pondered. Even now, he couldn't help but be drawn to admire the egg.
This made him have a desire to become a beast tamer to fully unleash the prowess of the Holy Mythical Beast one day, but his path was the Strongest Sect Master.
What did it exactly mean to be the Strongest Sect Master?
For first impressions, one with such epithet would be obviously someone who was better than the rest of the sect masters in the globe.
However, there were many things to actually consider to be acknowledged as the Strongest Sect Master.
Did it mean he had to have the highest cultivation base as the strongest?
Did it mean he had to be godly at everything to be able to fully develop his disciples?
Did it mean he had to make each disciple an immortal level figure?
These countless questions were plaguing Li Cheng's mind.
'System. As I have chosen the "Strongest Sect Master Pathway", does this mean I'll have the aptitude and capability to be able to go to the ends of other specialties? Such as becoming the strongest sword master, the strongest alchemist etc?'
[Technically yes and no. You can have the ability to reach such heights; however, there is a limit. This limit cannot be breached beyond with your pathway. Your pathway opens possibilities seemingly infinite, but still there are constraints.]
Li Cheng was not disappointed. 'It makes sense. Unless you want a head start or be super focused in one area, picking a pathway with many opportunities means you're just a jack of all trades.'
System [...]
There was a certain phrase that the System perhaps didn't like from Li Cheng's words.
'But is that really impossible?'
The System was silent for a little while.
[What are your thoughts?]
'With you being such an omnipotent existence, I don't think it's impossible. You are definitely not a simple System like those in other stories. That's the inkling I'm getting.'
[You have a high evaluation. Perhaps overestimating.]
Li Cheng shook his head. In any case, these thoughts of reaching the end were in the grand scheme of things useless for now.
'Jack of all trades… Being capable of doing many things… huh. No, that's not why I picked this pathway and type of System!'
He vigorously shook his head, emptying these complex and irrelevant thoughts that are corrupting to unhinge his mind.
Li Cheng moved his arm to his temple and swiped back his long black hair that had been tossed to the front. He viciously spat,
"For now, these thoughts are akin to an existential crisis that can go and eat shit. I just want to do the best I can do. To be someone who is worthy and respected to lead those legendary figures and become the strongest sect!!"
[Ding!]
[Indeed Li Cheng. While it's imperative to contemplate, too much can often be counter-intuitive and may lead to further questions and confusion. The journey has just begun.]
"Right. Because of all those unpredictable events that occurred, I'm thinking too much of the uncertain futures and flustering about what lies ahead for myself. I hadn't even started on my worries for the consequences for my appearance on that day.
"Focus on the present, but keep some things of the future in mind so I'm not wandering aimlessly!"
[The System is pleased with your mindset.]
Li Cheng's eyes briefly sparkled like polished gems. He felt that his vision and perspective of things had become a little clearer.
"System… Did I just experience enlightenment?"
[No.]
Li Cheng frowned. "I see. But the feeling I had seemed a little similar to when I had managed to gain some insights into my comprehension with the Li Sect's cultivation arts and techniques.
"Hold up. Maybe I was close to experiencing it. But because my thoughts are too still premature, I only managed to broaden some horizons but not enough to undergo enlightenment."
[Ding!]
The System chimed, affirming Li Cheng's deduction.
"..Oah?" he let out a wondrous gasp.
It was a peculiar feeling and was reassuring to his conscientious mind.
Unknowingly for Li Cheng, the over-reliance on this extremely generous and powerful System would have likely caused future internal demons for his cultivation: without the system, he was nothing.
However, this achievement of getting closer to enlightenment was, essentially, entirely to his own credit. There was no bullshit enlightenment tea yet or the sort.
Remember, people can go through a lifetime without even achieving it or even obtaining insight.
As for whether this type of internal demon would still come to him in the future…
"System, I'd like to know if there is a status window to view myself?"
[There is.]
"Really?! Please open it!"
[Opening Status Window…]
A/N: Holy crap almost 3k words in this chap.