Ten Mile Slope.
In front of a dilapidated mountain temple.
"Master... is this really the mountain gate of the world's top immortal sect?"
A young girl with dark hair tied with a red ribbon, radiating an air of immortality, looked up at the rundown temple, her expression hesitant.
The young man in a worn-out robe turned to gaze at the rare find of a disciple he'd finally managed to recruit.
With a hint of an expert's demeanor, Chu Xingchen, whose handsome face shone with confidence, said, "A mountain need not be tall to be famed if it houses an immortal."
"You're still young; don't be misled by appearances."
The girl in a flowing pink immortal skirt looked enlightened.
"I get it, Master! So, is there a hidden world inside?"
"In the Cultivation Chronicle of Mount Qi I read, there was this shabby door, but inside it was dazzling with gold and jade!"
Excitedly, Li Yingling ran up and pushed open the creaky, drafty old door, full of eager anticipation.
What met her eyes was...
A damaged statue left in ruins, with cobwebs hanging from the beams above, untouched.
The old offering table had been moved to sit in front of a worn plank, looking like it served as a makeshift desk.
One of the table's corners was even propped up with a rock to keep it from wobbling.
Next to it, a small stove had been roughly built out of stones, with a tiny iron pot resting on top.
Li Yingling felt like she was looking at an abandoned, decrepit temple statue.
It seemed more like a beggar's refuge!
Chu Xingchen walked in with a calm expression, utterly unembarrassed.
"Stop reading those stories by ordinary people; they'll rot your brain."
"Wait here. I'll dismantle part of the statue's side panel to make you a bed. The temple's pretty spacious, so you can sleep wherever you like."
Li Yingling felt darkness cloud her vision as she timidly asked, "Master… isn't cultivation supposed to be different?"
Chu Xingchen confidently replied, "Cultivation! This is exactly how it is!"
Li Yingling stammered, "But aren't other immortal sects all gold and jade, with grand palaces floating on towering peaks?"
"Have you seen this with your own eyes, or did some friend tell you?"
"According to the stories... aren't they all written like that?"
"You already know they're just stories. In cultivation today, that's not what matters. As long as you can reach immortality, you're practicing the path well."
Chu Xingchen seized on his point: "What do ordinary people know of cultivation or the true simplicity of the Way?"
Li Yingling muttered weakly, "But… isn't this too simple?"
"Less nonsense. Are you in or not?"
"… In."
Chu Xingchen sat down on a plank, cleared his throat, and with a hint of a smile, said, "Then, hurry up and kneel for the apprenticeship ceremony."
Li Yingling hesitated, but she shuffled forward reluctantly.
Turning back now wasn't an option.
If she returned home, her father would marry her off to that dim-witted son of Minister Wang.
That fool couldn't even feed himself.
Whenever he saw a girl on the street, he'd just babble incoherently.
A rundown temple was better than spoon-feeding that fool.
Li Yingling dropped to her knees, bowing reverently to Chu Xingchen.
"Master, please accept a bow from your disciple, Li Yingling!"
[Newbie Task Complete: Recruit One Disciple.]
[Reward Granted: Flawless Golden Pill!]
[Detected: Li Yingling possesses a single water-attribute spirit root.]
[Providing Study Material]
[Supreme Yin Mystical Water Heart Sutra]
[Item has been placed in inventory.]
A wave of satisfaction flooded through Chu Xingchen.
Three years—it had taken him three entire years to finally recruit a disciple with the system-approved qualifications!
This system required the disciple to have the potential to reach immortality, for the system to even recognize them as recruitable.
What kind of standard was that? To even qualify as a potential immortal seed, the disciple needed at least a second-grade spirit root.
Not to mention how rare such people were; even if there were any, they'd be prized treasures in the top sects.
A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like himself—where could he possibly find a disciple as oblivious as this?
For three whole years, Chu Xingchen had roamed every corner of Xuanwu Kingdom, keeping a low profile as he searched. Only then did he finally manage to… ahem, recruit his first disciple!
He took a glance at Li Yingling through the system interface.
[First Disciple: Li Yingling]
[Cultivation Level: None]
[Gold Attribute: Cultivation Genius]
[Purple Attribute: Exceptional Luck]
[Blue Attribute: Beautiful]
Sure, the girl likely saw him as a convenient shield. He knew she only wanted to be his disciple to avoid being married off to that fool from the Minister's family. But with these attributes, what was there to complain about?
He had chosen this decrepit temple as a residence to stay under the radar. This Ten Mile Slope was desolate for thirty miles around; finding this temple was no small feat.
It had taken three days of planning to bring Li Yingling here, but at last, the newbie task was complete!
As the task completion notification rang, a wave of spiritual energy surged into him, and his cultivation began to rise steadily.
A golden core slowly took shape in his dantian.
Li Yingling, as a genius with a single-attribute water spirit root, was naturally sensitive to shifts in spiritual energy.
But since she hadn't officially started cultivating, she only sensed that Chu Xingchen's aura had suddenly risen to a new level.
"Master… what's happening?"
Chu Xingchen casually replied, "I'm just so thrilled to have you as my cherished disciple that I accidentally released a bit of my suppressed power."
"All right, you can stop kneeling now."
Li Yingling, looking enlightened, got up, though she seemed puzzled.
"So, where are the other disciples? As the top sect of Xuanwu Kingdom, surely Master has taken on quite a few students, right? Where are they?"
"You're the only one for now."
She froze. "Huh? Master, you're…"
Chu Xingchen, with a calm expression, said, "I'm on an elite path, only recruiting gifted disciples with a destiny for cultivation. I don't take just anyone."
"And this sect is supposed to be the top sect in Xuanwu Kingdom?"
"Your Master here could sweep through Xuanwu Kingdom on his own; why wouldn't it be called the top sect?"
That's it—her mother was right; handsome men are just better at lying!
If she hadn't seen him standing up to the Minister's family for her sake, she'd be convinced she'd met a swindler… or maybe a madman.
"Master… you're not fooling me, right?"
Without a word, Chu Xingchen took out the Supreme Yin Mystical Water Heart Sutra from his system inventory.
An old, yellowed, crumpled book appeared in his hand, the cover so worn that the words "Supreme Yin Mystical" were smudged beyond recognition.
At least the last three characters, Water Heart Sutra, remained legible.
He tossed the book to Li Yingling beside him.
"Practice this. Once you do, you'll know if your Master is fooling you."
From his confident tone, it had to be an incredible, top-tier cultivation technique!
Li Yingling eagerly looked at the cover.
Most of the title was smudged beyond recognition.
The last three characters.
Li Yingling was stunned as she read, "Water Heart Sutra?!"
She turned to Chu Xingchen with a look that said, Master, are you tricking me again?
Who names a top-tier cultivation technique something like Water Heart Sutra?
It seemed far too "watery"! If the cover was this worn, was the content inside also a mess?
Could this be some book Master found at a street stall? Would practicing it cause her to go mad?
In all the stories, top-tier techniques had this aura, this radiant five-colored light!
This tattered book would probably end up as toilet paper if someone found it on the street!
Looking at the shabby book in her hand, Li Yingling asked hesitantly:
"Master, could we… switch to a different one?"