Chapter 1: Worthy of Reward~!
Spring has arrived.
All things revive.
Once again, it is the season when animals... reproduce.
On the rooftops and branches.
From time to time, one can see sparrows mating, wings intertwined, singing loudly.
On the streets.
Butchers chopping meat, vendors shouting, martial artists performing, prostitutes soliciting customers—the clamor of human voices is incredibly lively.
Suddenly.
A buzz of whispered conversations rises from the streets and alleys.
"Look quickly!"
"It is him, the young Daoist from the Three Pure Immortal Sect!"
"I heard he spent at least a hundred taels of silver in the eastern market yesterday!"
"Yes, yes! That Master Li who performed the flying knife technique got more than fifty taels in rewards!"
"This is a wealthy man, no—a God of Wealth!"
...
Countless burning gazes turn toward the direction of the sound.
At the end of the street.
A young man with bound hair walks over with a swagger that shows he fears no one.
His skin is fair, his features extraordinarily handsome. He wears a Daoist robe with a pattern of azure clouds and white cranes embroidered on the collar and lapel.
His bearing is exceptional, transcending the mundane world.
Anyone who sees him cannot help but sigh—what a beautiful young man.
More importantly.
On the chest of the young Daoist's robe hangs a purple-gold emblem, engraved with the pattern of three majestic peaks standing side by side.
This.
Is the Three Pure Immortal Sect's disciple emblem.
According to different disciple ranks, the emblem colors vary.
Registered disciples wear cyan emblems, formal disciples wear silver, and inner disciples wear gold.
And this purple-gold emblem.
Only the most valued true disciples of the Three Pure Immortal Sect are granted permission to wear.
In other words.
This young man who looks only fourteen or fifteen years old has already been promoted to true disciple level in the Three Pure Immortal Sect—his future prospects are immeasurable!
"Boss!"
Wang Xiu stops at a pork stall on the street, asking with a full smile: "Is your meat fresh?"
The butcher grins: "Young Daoist, what kind of question is that?"
"How could it not be fresh!"
"Slaughtered just this morning, the pig's blood is still warm! Super fresh!"
As soon as the butcher finishes speaking.
A crisp notification sound rings in Wang Xiu's mind.
[Detected someone bragging/bullshitting, congratulations to host for gaining +1 spiritual energy.]
A mocking expression appears on the young man's face: "Oh?"
"Really? I do not believe it."
The butcher's face flushes red as he argues: "Young Daoist, I am not bragging to you!"
"My family raises authentic free-range mountain pigs, fed only wild grass and berries, darting through forest thickets more agile than rabbits."
"Caught the same day, slaughtered the same day, sold the same day! The meat quality is absolutely top-grade!"
[Detected someone bragging/bullshitting, congratulations to host for gaining +1 spiritual energy.]
Interesting!
Wang Xiu smiles brilliantly: "Since the meat quality is so excellent, this poor Daoist will buy twenty jin to taste."
"I want ten jin of lean meat minced, not a trace of fat!"
"Ten jin of fat meat also minced, not a trace of lean!"
"The boss will personally handle the knife, how about it?"
This~!
Hearing this bizarre request, the butcher's face instantly collapses. After mincing twenty jin of meat, his hand probably will not even be able to hold a bowl steadily for the next few days.
But!
If he can make the young Daoist happy, any procurement business leaking out from the Three Pure Immortal Sect in the future would be enough to fill his mouth with overflowing oil.
"Daoist, rest assured!"
"This small one will cut it for you right now, guaranteed to make it beautiful!"
Seeing the butcher huffing and puffing as he starts chopping the meat, Wang Xiu smiles satisfactorily and continues strolling down the street.
...
"Boss, your wood carvings are quite nice!"
"I am not bragging to you, young Daoist, these are all top-grade sandalwood, exquisitely carved by famous masters, and blessed by high-level Daoist experts."
"Look at this Lord Lao Zi statue, purple qi comes from the east, immortal aura floating!"
"Just as transcendent and detached as you, Daoist. If you invite Him back, you will surely receive the Dao Ancestor's protection, your immortal path immeasurable!"
[Detected someone bragging/bullshitting, congratulations to host for gaining +1 spiritual energy.]
"Good brag."
"I will take it, wrap it up for me!"
...
"Boss, your baked cakes are quite nice!"
"Young Daoist, I am not bragging to you, my Da Lang Baked Cakes are a decades-old brand, universally acknowledged as fragrant!"
"My wife in her youth was known as the number one beauty for miles around. After eating my cakes, she became deeply attached and devoted her heart completely. Would you like to try?"
[Detected someone bragging/bullshitting, congratulations to host for gaining +1 spiritual energy.]
"Ahem, give me one to taste."
"Also."
"Many people have praised that your wife is indeed excellent!"
...
"Master, does not it hurt to smash a big rock on your chest?"
"I am not bragging to you, young Daoist. In my youth I apprenticed at the Great Vajra Temple, inheriting their sect-protecting ultimate technique Iron Cloth Shirt, impervious to blades and spears, immune to fire and water. A mere chest smashing a big rock is but a trivial matter!"
"Give this old man a few more years to cultivate this ultimate technique to perfection, and then let alone chest smashing a big rock, even a golden spear smashing a big rock would be child's play!"
[Detected someone going crazy bragging/bullshitting, bragging crit triggered, reached system high slot, congratulations to host for gaining +3 spiritual energy, +3 spiritual energy quality.]
[Congratulations to host for obtaining: Great Might Heavenly Dragon Demon-Subduing Golden Body perfection experience card!]
"Good performance!"
"Worthy of reward!"
Wang Xiu pulls out a large ingot, weighing at least twenty taels, and stuffs it into the martial artist's hand.
Instantly.
The other merchants' eyes turn red.
The already boisterous atmosphere becomes even more explosive.
...
"Elder sister, why are your pectoral muscles even more developed than that master who smashes rocks?"
"Young Daoist is so naughty, this servant is much more interesting than those crude fellows. Would not young master like to experience it?"
"Oh? Then is elder sister skilled at blowing?"
"I am not bragging to you, the girls in our Warm Fragrance Pavilion are all talented and accomplished, proficient in everything."
"As the poem goes: In the capital there was one skilled in ventriloquism, from then on the monarch did not attend morning court."
[Detected someone bragging/bullshitting, congratulations to host for gaining +1 spiritual energy.]
...
Boom~
As streams of vast, pure spiritual energy surge into his dantian.
Wang Xiu only feels an invisible barrier in his body suddenly shatter, his cultivation rising to a new level.
"Whew~"
Exhaling a turbid breath, Wang Xiu's eyes are full of satisfaction: "Finally broke through to Foundation Establishment Second Heaven."
"Indeed."
"Bitter cultivation is useless, cheating/opening a hang is the hard truth."
Fifteen years ago.
Wang Xiu transmigrated to this cultivation world. As a newborn orphan, he was carried back to the Three Pure Immortal Sect by his cheap master.
Becoming the Three Pure Immortal Sect, Spirit Turtle Peak Divination Branch's true disciple and eldest senior brother.
Hmm~
Saying true disciple and eldest senior brother is a bit of a stretch, because the entire Spirit Turtle Peak Divination Branch consists only of branch master Luo Binglan and true disciple Wang Xiu.
Besides that.
Not even chickens or dogs remain.
As for why a major branch of the prestigious Three Pure Immortal Sect declined to only one and a half cats? That is a long story, tracing back eight hundred years.
Nine hundred years ago.
The Three Pure Immortal Sect was the strongest immortal sect in the Divine Continent, holding the leading position in the Immortal Alliance, commanding the world.
360 immortal peaks, 360 Dao traditions.
No matter what cultivation system's top inheritance you wanted to practice, you could almost find it in the Three Pure Immortal Sect.
And the Divination Branch.
Specializing in divination, claiming to be able to calculate all heavenly secrets, held a transcendent position among the various branches!
At its most prosperous, it even ranked first among all peaks.
Commanding all branches, incomparably glorious!
But all this.
Completely changed eight hundred and sixty years ago.
That year.
The seal on the Eastern Sea Demon Island was destroyed, and millions of demon armies broke free, invading the Central Plains Divine Continent.
The Immortal Alliance issued an edict.
The various sects of the Divine Continent gathered their experts, assembling at the Eastern Sea to jointly resist the demons.
Before departure, the then Three Pure Sect Master asked the Divination Peak Master to personally cast a hexagram: This trip to the Eastern Sea, is it auspicious or inauspicious?
That night, the Divination Peak Master nearly exhausted his lifespan.
His black hair turning to white snow, he finally calculated: This campaign will be a great victory, the Three Pure Immortal Sect will sweep away all demons, establish supreme prestige, and ten thousand immortals will pay homage.
The Three Pure Sect Master was overjoyed.
Thus leading nearly eighty percent of the Three Pure Immortal Sect's elite at that time, they marched to the Eastern Sea to face the demons—so vigorous and spirited, their arrogance exceeding even the demons.
Reality, however, was cruel.
One hundred thousand elite disciples were completely annihilated, along with the Three Pure Sect Master and sixty-nine Earth Immortals at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, all sacrificed.
The entire Three Pure Immortal Sect directly fell from the strongest sect in the Immortal Alliance to the second tier.
Several years later.
Suffering demon retaliation, one hundred thousand demons launched a surprise attack on the Three Pure Immortal Sect, instantly shattering the entire mountain gate.
The pocket small world was banished into the endless void, 324 of the 360 main peaks were destroyed.
Hundreds of spirit stone mines were almost completely devastated.
Blood flowed like rivers, countless lives perished.
If not for other immortal sects coming to aid, they nearly faced direct annihilation.
Until now.
After more than eight hundred years of recuperation, the Three Pure Immortal Sect still has not recovered, failing to restore even half a percent of their peak combat power and foundation.
Almost everyone believes.
The Divination Peak Master's wrong hexagram was the root cause of the sect's devastating injury and demon retaliation.
Over one hundred thousand disciples died in battle, hundreds of traditions severed.
For eight hundred years.
Endless fury has poured onto the Divination Branch, causing it to decline day by day.
From a bustling courtyard with guests like clouds, to cold tea and few visitors, until today only Luo Binglan and Wang Xiu remain.
Originally.
Luo Binglan, as the granddaughter of the former Divination Branch Master, was determined to revitalize the Divination Branch.
Unfortunately.
This girl was born with a world-weary face, cold to everyone she meets, either not speaking at all.
Or when she opens her mouth: "I see dark clouds over your forehead, I am afraid there is bloodshed in your future."
The various branches of the Three Pure Immortal Sect—all their disciples found her ominous, and many even came at her with blades to fight.
When they actually fought, they were instantly cut down by this girl, blood spraying everywhere.
After beating them up.
This girl still righteously declared: See, I said you had bloodshed in your future!
Hatred value, maxed out on the spot!
PS: Welcome everyone to actively leave comments and suggestions. The author reads all book reviews and paragraph comments.
PS: Cultivation realm division.
Qi Refining — Foundation Establishment — Core Formation — Golden Core (True Person) — Nascent Soul (Venerable One) — Soul Separation (Great Power) — Manifesting Saint (Saint) — Tribulation Transcendence (Earth Immortal).
(End of Chapter)