"My beloved, oh, I so much love you!" a young disciple, full of seemingly heartfelt affection, confessed his love, his eyes full of lovesick moistness.
"If someone loves you, I'm loving you in double!" another disciple, not wanting to be behind, offered a bucket of flowers.
And so, one by one, the dozens of male disciples confessed their love, the goal of their affection? An old female elder on the brink of retirement.
The old woman, whose face was full of the marks of time, looked at all of them with a smile on her face, as if genuinely happy so many young males were interested in her.
"Oh, my dears, I'm so touched by your confessions," she gave her answer once all male disciples finished their lines, "I would be happy to accept the love of you all!"
The male disciples didn't seem dissatisfied that the old woman wanted to catch all the fish with her net, but seemed rather happy, tears of happiness flowed in their faces.
"It seems my action of donating my fortune to the sect's treasury was indeed not in vain, I'm being so quickly rewarded!" she said with heartfelt gratitude, and her eyes set on the sky, but when her eyes returned to the ground... There was no one there.
"Bah!" she sneered and left the place as if nothing ever happened.
Not so far from there, Yang Wu observed everything with a confused face, "What the fuck?"
Tu Hong, who was with him at that time, laughed, "Surprised by their act? There were plenty of eccentric people in the sect."
"Act?" Yang Wu asked with increasing confusion, "Was it all planned? Why would they waste their time like this?"
"That elder pays the disciples for each time the act is performed," Tu Hong explained, "She seems to be nearing the end of her life and decided to waste her fortunes with this kind of thing, she performs other acts around the sect as well."
"How much did she pay them for them to put down their pride?" Yang Wu asked.
"A lot, in many ways," Tu Hong said as he waved his fan, "Trust me, you better not know."
Yang Wu also wanted to spare his mind from damage and didn't ask further, "Let's go."
They were going to the Merit Center Pavilion, Yang Wu was going to sign up for a fixed job, he had to.
It had been a whole month since he arrived, and his Master couldn't ignore his disciple consuming resources without paying back anymore.
After all, the Yuan Gathering Formation, which increases the density and quantity of Yuan Qi inside his master's cave, costed lots of Qi Stones to operate.
"Don't worry too much," Tu Hong felt that Yang Wu might have been worried, "Your master already picked a nice job for you, didn't he"
Not surprised by Tu Hong's foreknowledge, Yang Wu nodded, "I will be working at the Sect's Orphanage."
"Fuck!" Tu Hong widened his eyes and almost broke the fan in his hand, "I'm so jealous!"
"It seems you think it's as good as my cheap master said," Yang Wu smiled, "But I can't understand how taking care of kids is a great job."
"You will understand when you arrive there," Tu Hong smiled mysteriously.
Yang Wu ignored his tentative to seem mysterious and didn't ask further.
They arrived in the Pavilion without much trouble, and after registering his name and leaving a trace of his soul's aura in a special contract, Yang Wu left with Tu Hong and went to the place where he would be working from now on.
The Sect' Orphanage wasn't a centralized place, every Peak had a building to be the home of many kids in need. Basically, Inner Disciples and those with equal or higher status could be assured their children wouldn't be abandoned by the sect in the case of their death.
It also caused most of the kids in the Orphanage to possess some talent in cultivation. There were many kids and many different histories, some were sent there just after being born, and others had the bit of luck to know their parents.
The age limit of the orphanage was twelve years, after which the kids would need to climb from the bottom of the outer sect to the height of their parents by themselves, without any more assistance.
In theory, there were no exceptions, be it a kid of an ordinary inner disciple or the kid of a supreme elder, both would need to climb from the outer sect after quitting the orphanage.
The building where the orphanage was located seemed like a palace and was big, bigger than any building Yang Wu saw on the Peak, and it made sense for it to be like that.
Kids were playing all over the place inside the building, the loud noises coming from all directions made Tu Hong a bit uncomfortable, but Yang Wu was rather used to this level of noise.
"Hello, fellow disciples," a young male disciple greeted them, "Are you both coming for a visit or something else?"
"This guy is going to work here from now on," Tu Hong pointed at Yang Wu, "Please take care of him from now on."
Yang Wu twitched the corners of his mouth, 'Can't you just let me answer on my own?' He thought.
"And you are?" the disciple was a bit surprised and asked, clearly not knowing there would be a new colleague.
"I'm Yang Wu," Yang Wu introduced him properly, "I'm going to be working here from now on, I hope we can get along."
"I'm Yun Fan," the disciple introduced himself as well, "I hope so too.
"Since you are a new employee, let me guide you to the Elder in charge of this orphanage."
Yang Wu nodded and followed him, Tu Hong didn't lag.
After walking for a while and climbing lots of stairs, Yun Fan stopped in front of a huge door, it had a board with the word "Management."
Yun Fan tapped the door a few times and said, "I'm sorry if I'm being a nuisance, but there's a new employee."
"Just enter," a tired voice came from inside.
Yang Wu was surprised with the interior of the room, it was simple and had no decorations, there was only a big table full of papers, and five chairs.
In the main chair, a old woman sat, she had long white hair and seemed rather tired despite her obviously high cultivation. After all, only a Golden Core Realm cultivator can become an Elder.
The Elder looked directly at Yang Wu and said, "Are you the new disciple of that bastard?"
"Yes, this disciple is indeed the new disciple of Peak Master," Yang Wu nodded while slightly bowing and holding his fist, he clearly didn't care about his master's reputation.
Tu Hong and Yun Fan both had cold sweat flowing on their backs, and both wondered where Yang Wu got the guts to disrespect their eccentric crazy Peak Master.
The Elder laughed, "It seems his disciple is just like him, careless about human affairs."
"I'm sorry if it offends you," Yang Wu bowed more deeply.
The elder took a deep look at him and said slowly, "I'm Yan Xing, the elder in charge of the orphanage in this Peak. I hope you won't bring me any trouble."
"This disciple dares not!" Yang Wu said with reverence, "I will try my best to do a job worthy of your praise!"
"That's good!" Yan Xing nodded and said, "Take those things." She threw at him a storage ring.
Yang Wu examined inside and there was a token and a book.
"The token is to prove your identity as a caretaker, and the book will be your teacher, read it carefully!" Yan Feng explained, "Everything you need to know, from the rules to your duties, will be there!"
"I understand!" Yang Wu nodded and put the ring on one finger of his, "I won't disappoint Elder Yan!"
"Go! I have lots to do!" Yan Feng waved her hand and set her sight on the papers.
Just as the three exited the room, Yun Fan asked with a shocked expression, "You are our Peak Master's disciple!?"
Yang Wu and Tu Hong exchanged glances and the latter explained, "Please don't spread those news, it's still a half-closed secret."
Although Yang Wu knew it was just a question of time until his identity came to be known to everyone, the later the better, since he would have more time to cultivate and prepare for the challenges.
'Actually, I should take my time and ask Master if I can give up this 'Lineage' thing, I don't want to go through so many troubles...' Yang Wu thought in his heart, but he knew the chances were slim based on his master's personality.
"Don't worry, my mouth is a tomb!" Yun Fan swore with a serious face, but both Yang Wu and Tu Hong were dubious about the validity of his words.
"Since it's your first day here, I recommend you observe other caretakers and learn something from everyone," Yun Fan said, "But unrelated people can't stay in the orphanage for too long."
"I got it, I got it," Tu Hong waved his fan at him, "I will be going, good luck at your new job, brother."
"Thanks for guiding me!" Yang Wu thanked him and observed as the other party simply flew away through a window, he suddenly got the desire to fly too, but both his Martial Practice and Immortal Cultivation weren't enough for him to do it.
"Ah, perfect!" Yun Fan suddenly shouted, "Little Jin, come here!" He called out for a little boy walking by.
"Hello, Teacher Yun!" the little boy greeted, he had a thin figure but a rather chubby face.
"This will be your new teacher, his name is Yang Wu," Yun Fan introduced, "Make sure to let everyone in the orphanage know there is a new teacher okay?"
Little Jin nodded and said enthusiastically, "Teacher Yang, I'm Jin Peng, I'm ten years old and it's a pleasure to meet you!"
Yang Wu was surprised with his enthusiasm and couldn't help but ask, "Why are you so happy?"
"A new teacher always meant a new source of money," Little Jin smiled.
"Huh?" Yang Wu got even more confused, "What do you mean?"
"Cough!" Yun Fan interrupted, "You will know when the time comes.
"Little Jin, just go around and do what you always do, okay? I will reward you later."
Little Jin grinned mischievously and left.
"Believe it or not, it wasn't a coincidence he appeared just now," Yun Fan said with a sigh, "He has a scary information-gathering ability.
"Anyway, just tag along for today, I will show you a lot of things that need to be done."
Yang Wu nodded and at the same time took a notebook and pen from his storage bag, but without making it obvious.
"It's good you are interested!" Yun Fan nodded.
And so, Yang Wu's career as a caretaker began. That day he didn't go home until Yun Fan finished his expedient.
He got to know other caretakers and lots of kids and began to understand that being a caretaker of kids of the "immortal world" was completely different from taking care of ordinary mortal children.
Because all the children in the orphanage had parents with sufficient talent in cultivation to be at least an Inner Disciple, it meant their own talents tended to be higher than the norm, and it also meant their temperament and behavior would be different from ordinary children.
For example, while small ordinary kids had to be constantly watched to avoid a grave accident, most kids in that orphanage were born with exceptional senses and intellect, most of them would instinctively know if something was dangerous or not.
Moreover, they are easier to teach, their high talent meant they didn't need to hear something many times to learn, most of the time only hearing once or twice was enough.
Although they tend to do mischief as much as ordinary kids, the type of mischief would normally be harmless, so the caretakers didn't need to worry as much. Moreover, only after exiting the orphanage would they be allowed to cultivate, so all kids had limited destructive ability.
Already in his room, Yang Wu took his time to read the book he received from Elder Yan. It was a rather thick book, but he read it quickly and fixed the important information in his mind. After reading the book three times, he stored it in the storage ring he received.
He then put all the things that were in his storage bag into the storage ring, it would save him the trouble of always taking his things from "inside his robes."
When he was done, he began to cultivate, he was on the verge of breaking through to the Third Layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
He once again had tempered and refined his cultivation base thirty-eight times, it was the natural limit again. His True Qi was five times denser and purer than when he just advanced to the Second Layer, and after days of cultivation, his True Qi's quantity was also multiplied by five times.
He was on the peak of the Second Layer, but his "immortal strength" was probably compared to an ordinary Fourth Layer cultivator.
Yang Wu did the same thing he did on his first breakthrough, he concentrated all his True Qi into his Dantian, in the form of a sphere and with his fake mystical root in the center.
With just a little bit of effort, he broke the barrier of his cultivation, the bottleneck was literally annihilated before it could pose him even a little resistance.
His Dantian and Qi Meridians began to expand and grow and only stopped when they were about five times larger than before, but it didn't affect his body's size at all.
His True Qi also began to grow, it quickly followed the same rule of a five-fold boost. Its quantity, density, and purity increased about five times.
The impurities that were originally meant to be purged were absorbed by his Qi Blood and turned into nutrients for it to grow.
"It seems the rule will continue, a five-fold increase after a minor breakthrough, what is the mystery behind it?" Yang Wu muttered to himself and carefully sensed his new strength.
Although he just broke through to the Third Layer, his immortal cultivation's strength was theoretically comparable to that of someone in the Fifth Layer.
"It seems my Cultivation Base will quickly reach the same level of strength as my Martial Practice..."
Yang Wu began to grow restless, his strength had no place to be vented out of him, and the sect wasn't a good place for him to show his strength openly. His room was too cramped for him to let loose too, he was growing irritated, it was the instinct of a martial artist kicking.