Chapter 91 - 59: Hard-to-Farm Rewards

Chapter 91: Chapter 59: Hard-to-Farm Rewards

Halfway up Bamboo Forest Peak, a four-person squad wove their way through the woods.

Aside from the single stalks of Cloud Bamboo planted over tens of thousands of tiny Spiritual Eyes, the rest of the peak remained a forest. In reality, the root systems of those myriad Cloud Bamboos had already spread throughout the entire mountain. Consequently, the rest of the vegetation in the woods was incredibly sparse and stunted. While trees outside the mountain easily reached over a hundred feet tall, few on this peak exceeded fifty or sixty feet, and the wild grass didn’t even reach one’s instep.

This lack of undergrowth made things much easier for the Patrol Disciples. Even without using the Armor-Horse Skill or similar Magic, navigating this deep, ancient forest posed little inconvenience.

"Fellow junior disciples, noon is almost past." The squad leader, a young man from Huang Bamboo Temple who looked to be in his early twenties, held a Compass as he cleared the path ahead. "Once we finish this patrol route, let’s take a break here."

Huang Bamboo Temple organized all patrol squads into groups of four, each led by a Huang Bamboo Temple disciple familiar with the peak’s terrain. Of course, this "leadership" also served to prevent the recruited disciples from other Daoist Temples from slacking off—or worse, imitating the monsters and secretly eating the Cultivation Fruit.

Hearing that they would rest soon, Mu Xiaoyu and the other two Patrol Disciples—one man and one woman—nodded in agreement behind the young Huang Bamboo Temple leader.

The other two disciples wore different Daoist Robes. The male Cultivator wore an earthy brown robe. With his thick eyebrows, large eyes, and dark skin, he looked more like a mortal martial artist than a Cultivator. The Female Cultivator wore a moon-white Daoist Robe embroidered with a full moon, surrounded by auspicious clouds shaped like pine branches.

When they were assigned to the same squad that morning, the three of them had already exchanged names and backgrounds.

The male Cultivator was Lu Kuan from Yuanya Temple. Ranked in the middle tier among the various sects, his Daoist Temple was not particularly famous—only slightly better than Yellow Crane Temple. The Female Cultivator was Wu Mingke, who hailed from a rather decent Daoist Temple known as Songyue Temple. Moreover, she hadn’t just met Mu Xiaoyu that morning; she was Xiaoyu’s roommate, so they had naturally been acquainted since the previous night.

Had Li Yinsheng been present, he would have had some impression of this Daoist Temple. Yue He, the one who had previously extended an olive branch and invited him to be her Dao Companion, was none other than the ancestor of Songyue Temple.

Unlike Yellow Crane Temple, which only had a single Daoist ancestor, Songyue Temple once boasted three Daoists at its peak. Although it was no longer in its prime, two Daoists still oversaw it. However, Mu Xiaoyu didn’t know much about the various sects. Whether it was Yuanya Temple or Songyue Temple, they were all just "other Daoist Temples" to her.

Naturally, Lu Kuan and Wu Mingke knew even less about Xuanzhen Temple, where Mu Xiaoyu came from. Both were only two or three years older than Xiaoyu; when Xuanzhen Temple fell into decline, neither of them had even been born yet.

Wu Mingke walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Mu Xiaoyu and asked in a low voice, "Xiaoyu, I heard from the others that when you arrived yesterday evening, you were personally escorted by a senior from your Daoist Temple who had profound Cultivation and a handsome appearance?"

"Wu, you’ve asked several times already," Mu Xiaoyu said, feeling a bit helpless. "It was just my senior brother dropping me off."

"So just how handsome is this senior brother of yours?" Wu Mingke pressed.

Yesterday, when Li Yinsheng arrived at the residential area for the Patrol Disciples, his Talisman Crane was a bit flashy. However, since he had descended from the sky, appearing and leaving in a flash, not many people actually got a good look at him. Yet, the rumor Wu Mingke just mentioned had spread like wildfire.

"My senior brother... well, he really is quite good-looking," Mu Xiaoyu said, curling her lip. "He’s just a bit too strict."

"Strict is good," Lu Kuan chimed in from nearby. "A strict master produces brilliant disciples. Ordinary disciples like us aren’t qualified to take a Steward in the temple as our master, so we can only cultivate under our senior brothers and sisters.

"Meeting a strict senior who’s willing to discipline and teach you is a good thing for your Cultivation," he added, swinging a wooden stick around as he walked, seemingly practicing some kind of Mortal Staff Technique.

"Makes sense. Being strict means your senior brother cares about you." Wu Mingke nodded in agreement. "If I had a handsome senior brother with high Cultivation who also cared deeply about me, I’d stick to him like glue and never leave his side.

"As for being strict..." A faint blush crept up her cheeks as she finished, "Sometimes, that’s an advantage too, hehehe."

"Exactly!" Lu Kuan nodded approvingly. "Stick to him and ask him about Cultivation every day! The stricter, the better!"

Wu Mingke rolled her eyes, realizing there was no explaining things to someone like him.

Mu Xiaoyu felt a bit uncertain after listening to the two of them chime in one after another.

She wondered if Fellow Daoists from other Daoist Temples really thought being strictly disciplined was a good thing. Was it actually completely normal for her senior brother to be so strict with her? Could it be that Cultivators from other Daoist Temples also woke up at the crack of dawn to cultivate, practice swordsmanship, and study scriptures until midnight just like she did?

"Xiaoyu, I’m two years older than you and have been cultivating two years longer. I’m going to tell you something you might not want to hear." Wu Mingke linked arms with Mu Xiaoyu and said earnestly, "You have to cherish a senior brother who is strict with you. The ones who order you around all day might not be good people, but a senior brother who forces you to cultivate every day definitely has your best interests at heart.

"After all, no matter how hard you cultivate, your Cultivation won’t transfer to him; it’s all yours. If he’s strict with you, it must be for your own good."

"That’s right!" Lu Kuan agreed. "Most of the senior disciples with profound Cultivation in my temple are busy with their own training and earning talismanic coins. Who has the time to look after junior disciples they aren’t even related to?"

"It’s the same everywhere. Which Daoist Temple isn’t like that? A person’s energy is limited, so it’s naturally best to focus it all on their own Cultivation," Wu Mingke added.