How many points of favor can a pastry exchange for? Lin Zhusheng hadn’t forgotten that he was here to find books on planting seeds. After delivering the gifts, he left the corridor, searching his memory as he headed upstairs.

If he remembered correctly, the library had quite a few books about planting flowers, grass, and vegetables, and they were all about fulfilling requests.

Once he was away from the courtyard, the little cat hiding in his clothes felt the chill dissipate a bit. It poked its head out, glanced at his empty hands, and immediately noticed the absence of the umbrella, surprised as it said, “I didn’t know you cared so much about others.”

Lin Zhusheng’s concern wasn’t necessarily for people. He replied, “If the pastries get wet, they can’t be eaten.”

Those were the pastries he had worked hard to prepare that morning, and each one deserved a good home; he couldn’t let them go to waste.

“…” Fine.

The little cat’s eyes twitched, and it pulled its head back in.

On the third floor, Lin Zhusheng found what he was looking for. A bookshelf occupied a small corner in the vast sea of books, marked with a symbol that looked like grass.

“Complete Guide to Herbs,” “Collection of Spiritual Flowers,” “The Farmer’s Self-Cultivation”—a row of books that were exactly what he needed.

The bookshelf was covered in a faint glow, so he couldn’t touch it directly. He took out his disciple token and tapped it against the shelf, causing the glow to disappear.

It was still technically morning, and he had plenty of time to read. He picked up “Complete Guide to Herbs,” thought for a moment, and then grabbed “Collection of Spiritual Flowers.”

Books from the library couldn’t be taken out; they could only be read inside. He tucked the two books under his arm, looking around to find an exit to another area.

There was a reading area, a pavilion in a corner of the attic, but with the daily studies already weighing down the disciples, and with the rain today, no one was around.

Once he stepped onto the pavilion, the temperature dropped by more than a degree, and a breeze blew in, with mountains on either side, their peaks shrouded in mist.

It wasn’t completely empty, though.

As he was about to find a good spot to face the wind while holding his books, Lin Zhusheng caught a glimpse of someone sitting in a corner of the pavilion.

Dressed in pure white, the person in a moon-white robe sat by the window. Noticing Lin Zhusheng, he slightly raised his head, turning his gaze.

In that instant, Lin Zhusheng had already started to wave, his eyes crinkling as he greeted, “Senior Brother.”

What a lovely day to unexpectedly run into his senior brother here.

In such a short time, he had encountered him twice; if he could draw cards, he’d be suited to draw a few more in these two days.

Wen Baizhou raised his gaze, pausing for a moment on the mountain school uniform Lin Zhusheng was wearing, then nodded and said, “Congratulations.”

The last time they met, he was still in the servant disciple’s academy, but now he had changed into the outer sect disciple’s uniform. He had been in such a rush yesterday that he forgot to congratulate him, so he made up for it now.

Lin Zhusheng accepted the congratulations, turned left and right to show off, and politely asked, “May I sit here?”

He asked very politely, but as he did, the books in his hands were already slowly leaning toward the table, and with his eyes looking over, it was hard for anyone to say no.

Wen Baizhou nodded, and Lin Zhusheng immediately sat down beside him, randomly flipping open one of the books.

His hair, tied up in a messy bun, had tiny droplets of water clinging to it, and the hairband was damp. Wen Baizhou noticed and asked, “Didn’t you bring an umbrella?”

“I did.”

Lin Zhusheng thought for a moment and added, “But then it’s gone.”

That was quite an abstract statement, equivalent to saying nothing at all.

Wen Baizhou tried to understand his words but couldn’t quite grasp it. After thinking for a while, he reminded him that it was best to let his hair down to dry.

What a considerate senior brother! Lin Zhusheng, who had no common sense in this area, complied, bending down and twisting his head to untangle the messy hairband.

His long hair cascaded down, brushing past his face as he tucked the stray strands behind his ear. He set the twisted hairband aside and suddenly remembered something, curiously asking, “Who’s that person sweeping below?”

“Person?”

Wen Baizhou quickly realized who he was referring to and shook his head slightly, saying, “He is not a person.”

Sensing a story, Lin Zhusheng perked up, like an old player in a game who would skip the dialogue but now had his ears perked up, saying, “Do tell.”

Temporarily closing the book in his hands, Wen Baizhou said, “His name is Wuqi, an ancient fierce beast, who appeared a hundred years ago and wreaked havoc on the demon clan.”

The demon clan had an instinctive fear of ancient fierce beasts and couldn’t resist. It was said that the sect master of the Heavenly Sect, along with the grand elder, subdued him and locked him away in the library using the Cold Heaven Lock, allowing him to spend his ferocity in this tranquil place.

The Cold Heaven Lock was forged from cold iron, embedded with formations that could seal his cultivation and perception of killing intent. If he sensed killing intent or attempted to harm a disciple, the formations on the Cold Heaven Lock would activate, causing him immense pain.

Years ago, Wuqi would still attempt to harm disciples, but in recent years, that had stopped. Even though he knew the Cold Heaven Lock was there and posed no danger, no disciple had approached him since.

So it turned out he wasn’t a person. Lin Zhusheng thought to himself, how could a person be so tall, a whole head taller than him? After a moment of thought, he asked, “Will he always be locked up like this?”

“Fierce beasts are chaotic in nature; if released easily, they will wreak havoc again.”

Meeting Wen Baizhou’s gaze, he added, “There is a solution, but it’s not feasible.”

The only solution was to have Wuqi recognize a master. Once he recognized a master, whether it was an ordinary little demon or an ancient fierce beast, they would unconditionally obey their master. If they disobeyed, they would die instantly. As long as he recognized a master, if the master set a rule not to harm people, demons, or beasts, Wuqi could leave.

But ancient fierce beasts were notoriously hard to tame, preferring death over submission, and there had never been a successful case of one recognizing a master.

【Side Quest: Have Wuqi Recognize a Master (Master’s Requirement Level ≥ LV5)】
【Quest Reward: Orange Set (40% chance to completely block attacks) x1】

“……”

Just as the senior brother finished saying it was impossible, a quest popped up right after. Lin Zhusheng supported his face with one hand, trying to hide the twitching corners of his mouth.

He blinked at the sky a few times, trying hard to control his expression, and asked, “…So, what if I want him to recognize a master?”

His questions were all very basic for someone born and raised in the cultivation world, akin to a gap in nine years of education. Fortunately, his seemingly cold senior brother had a warm heart and answered even the most common questions, saying, “It requires mutual recognition and heart’s blood.”

This was the first time Lin Zhusheng had heard the term “heart’s blood.” He wanted to ask more but felt that if he kept asking, he would come off as foolish, so he quietly noted it down to ask the little cat later.

After their chat, feeling that if they continued talking without reading a single page, his senior brother might jump up and beat him, he obediently fell silent and opened the borrowed book.

He sat quietly without speaking, but his senior brother instead asked, “Are you done asking?”

Lin Zhusheng hurriedly replied that he was done and expressed his gratitude.

Wen Baizhou then withdrew his gaze, replied with a simple “Okay,” and reopened the book he had closed.

Not intentionally peeking, but as the book opened, Lin Zhusheng, with his keen eyesight, inadvertently caught sight of an illustration on the page, recognizing the shape of some familiar herbs.

It seemed his senior brother was reading a book on herb cultivation. So the reason he mentioned wanting to learn about flowers and plants for an old friend wasn’t in the past tense; it was happening right now. Flipping open the book in his hands, he casually remarked, “Senior Brother really likes that friend of yours.”

Wen Baizhou, with his head lowered, slightly raised his eyes as if he wanted to say something but ultimately just smiled and simply acknowledged it, returning to his reading.

Bearing the heavy responsibility of transforming the courtyard, their small talk ended, and Lin Zhusheng, preparing to study, straightened up and earnestly opened the book in his hands.

But he couldn’t maintain that proper posture for long; after a while, he slouched, leaning sideways on the chair, pulling out the pastries he had specially prepared for today.

He nibbled while flipping through the book, and noticing the gaze from beside him, he turned his head, thought for a moment, and tentatively pulled out another pastry, asking, “Senior Brother, would you like some?”

As expected, his senior brother declined, so he put it back and continued munching, his cheeks puffing out.

He couldn’t sit still for a moment, constantly shifting positions, feeling that if he sat too long, he would get up and start punching and kicking to stretch his body, inviting his senior brother to join him.

Wen Baizhou smiled and politely declined.

When he smiled, it was captivating, and Lin Zhusheng’s eyes brightened a little as he smiled back.

But soon, he couldn’t smile anymore.

The rain fell so heavily that it blurred the line between day and night, and it wasn’t until the evening bell rang that he remembered he still had to go to class.

The rain that had been falling all this time had stopped without him noticing, and as the bell rang, Lin Zhusheng quickly stood up, tucking the books under his arm and starting a sprint.

Being a polite person, he remembered to say goodbye to his senior brother before dashing off, his legs kicking up sparks on the ground as he ran far away.

He seemed to always have endless things to do, always in a rush, his clothes flapping in the wind. Wen Baizhou withdrew his gaze, lowering his eyes to continue reading the book in his hands.

At the edge of his vision, he noticed something moving slightly. Turning his head, he saw two hairbands left forgotten on the table. One was blue, the other white, and they fluttered in the wind, landing in his palm, feeling slightly cool to the touch.

Completely unaware that he had dropped his gear, Lin Zhusheng returned the books and hurried off to class.

As expected, he arrived late to class, but the good news was that the teacher was still the same one as before, already accustomed to his tardiness. In fact, he seemed quite surprised that Lin Zhusheng hadn’t been too late this time. Considering it had rained outside, it was damp, and he generously allowed him to sit in class.

Lin Zhusheng thought this was great; after all, without any companions, it could be a bit boring to be outside alone.

He hadn’t brought any books to class either, so he ruled out the option of listening to the teacher’s lecture. With nothing to do, he looked left and right, finding that his neighbor, Zhang Jing, was too far away, so he regrettably gave up on passing notes and took out the only book he could read, “The Self-Cultivation of Sword Practitioners.”

At times like this, it would be a bit impolite to wave a wooden sword around, so the book said that a sword was a medium, and it was fine to use something else instead. He glanced at the teacher, then at the other disciples who were focused on the teacher, and quietly leaned toward the window, swiftly snapping off a branch that was stretching toward the window.

The branch was small and wouldn’t be seen if hidden under the low table, and spinning it in his hand wouldn’t attract anyone’s attention.

The teacher was lecturing on stage while he played with the branch silently, his other hand flipping through the book with great seriousness. Stray hairs fell across his face, and he casually tucked them behind his ear, instinctively tugging at the hairband.

“……”

Hmm? Wait a minute.