A late-night chat stretched on indefinitely, finally wrapping up at midnight. Before leaving, Lin Zhusheng seized every opportunity to boost his favorability, pulling out some snacks to give to the steward, the sect leader, and the elder.

He handed the steward and the sect leader regular-shaped snacks, but when it came to the elder, he switched to a soft, pink peach-flavored jelly. Although the shape was hard to discern through the oil paper, the soft and bouncy texture was unmistakable. The elder politely declined, saying, “I’ve been fasting for many years.”

Not immediately retracting the snack, Lin Zhusheng urged, “After fasting for so long, it’s the perfect time to try some ordinary snacks.”

The sect leader, a good guy, chimed in to help him out: “Little friend’s kind gesture, just accept it, Elder.” He was already munching on the snack as he spoke, his eyes widening slightly as he praised its deliciousness.

Lin Zhusheng reasonably suspected that the elder had just drunk too much tea earlier and wanted something to nibble on. In the end, the elder accepted it, his cold, hard face contrasting sharply with the soft, bouncy peach jelly in his hand.

The snacks earned Lin Zhusheng a kind umbrella from the steward, and he finally pulled out his big sword to head back to sleep.

“…”

With the sect leader and elder gone, the steward stood there, wide-eyed, watching a massive sword appear out of nowhere, seeing someone sit on it, and then watching that person leave. It was the first time he had ever seen someone ride a sword, and it was so big that once the person was on it, they were completely out of sight.

Getting the hang of controlling the big sword for the second time, Lin Zhusheng was much more skilled now. Aside from still getting drenched in rainwater, there were no other major issues. The big sword hadn’t been sharpened yet and had a built-in silent mode, so flying at night didn’t attract any attention.

Almost silent, but when he landed, he was still spotted. Zhang Jing, who was unusually awake at this late hour, opened the door and glanced at him.

Wiping the rainwater off his head and face, Lin Zhusheng waved and asked, “Why are you still up so late?”

Zhang Jing replied that he just wanted to practice some talismans a bit longer tonight.

Lin Zhusheng looked at him for a moment and suddenly asked, “You’re not waiting for me, are you?”

“?”

The question he almost blurted out about what was going on was quickly swallowed back. Zhang Jing’s eyes twitched as he said, “Just go back to sleep.”

Feeling a bit cheeky before bed, Lin Zhusheng felt satisfied, smiling as he waved and started to head back.

He had done what he needed to do and had his fun, so when he got home, he dried his hair, took a shower, changed his clothes, and after a busy half-night, Master Lin finally lay back on his big bed, peacefully closing his eyes to end a day that had been too fulfilling.

…But it didn’t end there.

Outside, the rain was pouring, the bed was clean and warm, and the soft, even breathing of the little cat beside him created a perfect moment for sleep, yet Master Lin found himself wide awake.

After tossing and turning in bed, he despairingly closed his eyes.

“…If I had known, I wouldn’t have drunk so much tea.”

The next morning, the rain had stopped.

After struggling all night, Master Lin finally fell asleep just before dawn and now struggled to get up to practice swordsmanship.

From his place to the training ground, his eyes hadn’t fully opened, and his movements were sluggish, like an old man stepping into his twilight years, his little broken wooden sword transformed into a cane.

Thanks to his previous enthusiasm, he had quickly built deep friendships with most of his fellow disciples. As soon as he stood there, someone would come over to ask what mischief he had gotten up to the night before.

Not just questioning if he had done something bad, but directly asking what bad thing he had done. Ah, such deep camaraderie, it would have been better if there was none at all.

Law-abiding citizen Lin waved his hand, solemnly declaring his good citizen status, trimming the story down to just saying he had drunk too much tea yesterday.

“Speaking of last night, I think I heard some sounds.”

A disciple squatted nearby and whispered, “It seemed to come from the library.”

As soon as she finished speaking, other disciples rushed over to squat down with her, mysteriously sharing a piece of news.

In just one night, the person who had been sweeping the courtyard of the library, rumored to be a fierce beast, had vanished.

Disciples who had gone to the library early in the morning said that the fierce beast hadn’t disappeared; it had come out of the library courtyard and was seen walking around the square in front of the library with a broom, seemingly munching on some snacks that looked quite tasty. After finishing, it appeared to be sleeping comfortably.

The only reason it could come out of the library courtyard was that it had recognized its master.

After so many years, suddenly recognizing a master, combined with the sword sounds they heard yesterday, they suspected that the sect leader had finally taken action to resolve the matter, using some method to make it recognize its master.

Lin Zhusheng stayed silent, occasionally responding with “Mm” and “Oh, I see.”

Zhang Jing, standing beside him, glanced at him before looking away.

When it was time to practice swordsmanship, the elder arrived, and the morning gossip session came to an end.

The frail elder Lin returned to his spot, propping up his little broken wooden sword as he gazed toward the library.

The result of yesterday’s late-night chat was that Wu Qi, still in a weak state, would temporarily stay at the sect to help out, and in return, the sect would provide him with clothing, food, and shelter.

Mainly, a person as large as him couldn’t possibly fit into a room, and that big fluffy creature couldn’t be carried around like a little cat.

Now it seemed that he was adapting quite well.

As long as he was doing okay, the task of having Wu Qi recognize his master was complete. He hadn’t done much and had already received a set of clothes, which made him feel a bit guilty; it was best if the other party adapted well.

A brand new day arrived, and the second elder, as usual, came to teach sword practice, bringing with him some fresh news.

Having practiced swordsmanship for a while, this batch of new disciples had basically learned the fundamentals, and the next step was the practical combat phase, where they needed to integrate what they had learned through actual training.

In plain terms, they were going out to train. The Tianzong sect had a dedicated secret realm for disciple training, located a few hundred miles to the east. It only took half a day to reach by a special floating ship, so it wasn’t too far in terms of time.

The trip would take several days. Although the secret realm was a low-level one, it still had its dangers, and this time the elder wouldn’t accompany them; someone else would lead the way.

At least the last person who had been called to lead had been an external elder for a while, so Lin Zhusheng was familiar with this. He knew that most of those called to lead were direct disciples of inner sect elders.

While there weren’t many direct disciples of inner sect elders, they weren’t exactly few either. As expected, the blessings of jumping through the plot had come again, and several blurry faces flashed through his mind, but he still couldn’t recall who had been called to lead this time.

In the morning, they practiced swordsmanship, and in the afternoon, the academy canceled classes, saying it was to give them some time to sort out their feelings and belongings.

Given the time to organize, Lin Zhusheng sat on his big sword and headed home, starting to rummage through his two little broken wooden boxes.

It was his first time going on a long trip, and he was a bit curious. He had been as lifeless as a corpse in the morning, but after returning, he was bouncing around again.

Aside from places that only inner sect disciples could enter, he had practically run all over the sect to complete his tasks, and just when there were no new maps to explore, this opportunity came knocking.

Going to the secret realm was different from practicing swordsmanship; there was a risk of injury. He hadn’t finished exploring this world yet, and as a player, Lin was still quite fond of his little life, so he stuffed herbs into his backpack.

He also cherished his mouth and stomach, so he stuffed snacks into his bag, fearing he might get hungry.

“…”

The little cat sat beside him, watching him, and eventually couldn’t bear to look away.

This person in his life seemed to only care about these little snacks and that small piece of land in the yard.

On the day of departure to the secret realm, he didn’t practice swordsmanship but woke up even earlier than usual. When Lin Zhusheng sat on the big sword, his mind hadn’t fully woken up yet, and he almost collided with someone else’s sword.

Not surprisingly, he was late as usual, and when he arrived, he was met with the synchronized gazes of his fellow disciples.

Even though they had seen him use this enormous sword once, they were still shocked to see it again, their brows twitching as they watched him land smoothly.

The timing was just right; the sturdy fellows who had been called to lead also arrived. The long swords sliced through the air, leaving trails of light, and the sound of swords rang out to the horizon.

Unlike them, the blue and white uniforms fluttered in the wind as they descended.

Standing in the crowd, Lin Zhusheng, who was still quietly stuffing breakfast into his mouth, clearly heard the awed voices of his fellow disciples.

Not missing any chance to join in the excitement, he quickly finished the fruit in his hand, raised his head, and followed the gazes of others.

It was indeed a sight to behold.

After all, leading the group was the handsome senior brother Wen, who was known for his looks in the game. He had a tall figure and long legs, and as he walked, his robes fluttered, with the tassels of the jade pendant at his waist swaying gently.

Lin Zhusheng hadn’t expected to see a familiar face here. With his mouth still full of unchewed fruit, his cheeks puffed out, and he unexpectedly locked eyes with someone.

Feeling that his current appearance was somewhat unrefined, he hesitated about whether to raise his hand to greet the person, but the senior brother was the first to look away, his fist lightly resting against his mouth. After lowering his hand, he still wore that indifferent expression, showing no signs of emotion.

Alright, it seemed there was no need to greet him. Lin Zhusheng chewed, shifting his gaze to others.

Today felt like a reunion of familiar faces; among the sturdy fellows, there was even a face he had seen before. Dressed as messily as he was, the person’s face looked unkempt, and as he walked among the inner sect disciples, especially behind Wen Baizhou, he looked like someone who couldn’t afford a meal, blending into the elite crowd.

It was the boss who had sold him the big sword, and it seemed he was quite familiar with the senior brother, chatting away.

Originally wanting to say hello, but since their gazes didn’t meet and the disciples beside him were also talking, Lin Zhusheng chose to turn his head and listen to his fellow disciples.

He pulled back his gaze, and the boss turned to look over.

With a casual glance, he spotted the person in the back of the crowd, puffing out his cheeks and whispering to the disciple beside him. The boss reached out, intending to tap the person in front of him to say something, but his gaze landed on the familiar silver-white hairpin on the disciple’s head.

His eyes slowly widened, and he directed his gaze toward the person in front, who remained unfazed, raising his eyebrows high.