In just a few short days, the training grounds had completely transformed. The high platform had sprung up from the ground, and it really looked the part. Every day during sword practice, Lin Zhusheng quietly played the role of a supervisor, and he felt that the boss truly had some skills up his sleeve.

Going out to take on some private jobs might earn him money faster than selling big swords at a stall. With the competition pausing sword practice for a few days, it was like giving everyone a break during exam season back in high school. All his fellow disciples were eagerly looking forward to these days, and after the last day of practice, they all made a quick getaway. Lin Zhusheng was no exception.

In the cultivation world, plants grew much faster than they did in the normal world. He had previously picked some fruits and herbs, and now it was time to harvest again. He could also take on some tasks to earn a little extra cash. The few days of the competition were just enough time for him to scour a few mountains.

On the first day of the competition’s preparation phase, which was also the first day of pausing sword practice, people from various sects began to arrive at Tianzong.

Early in the morning, farmer Lin woke up and quickly washed up and watered his plants. The plants in his yard had also grown; he had already harvested a batch of herbs and made them into herbal snacks. The saplings had also grown a bit taller, but the 兰筠花 (Lan Junhua) was still growing slowly, only sprouting a small seedling after all this time.

Fortunately, his senior brother hadn’t yet reached the age where he liked 兰筠花 (Lan Junhua), so he could wait a bit longer. By the time it grew, it might just be the right time for his senior brother to take an interest in it.

As his yard was taken over, Zhang Jing, who also woke up early to water his vegetables, was surprised to see him up so early during non-practice hours. He asked, “Waking up this early, are you going to watch the sect competition?”

Lin Zhusheng finally remembered that there was such a thing as the sect competition. No wonder he felt something buzzing above his head this morning; it turned out to be people from other sects passing by continuously. He put down the watering can and waved his hand, saying, “No, I’m not going. I have some other things to do.”

He had already participated in the sect competition after becoming an external elder, so he wasn’t very interested in it. Picking fruits was much more appealing.

The little cat lying nearby said to Zhang Jing, “He’s going to pick up trash again.”

Lin Zhusheng playfully swatted at the cat’s fur, scolding, “Rude.”

After finishing his routine watering, he tucked his impolite cat under his arm and set off with his big sword.

His place was remote, and he could only hear sounds without seeing any figures. Once he reached the mountain near the training grounds, standing in the woods, he could see huge flying boats soaring overhead, faintly appearing through the clouds.

This was just one of thousands of flying boats, and there were many more beyond that.

When he played games, he didn’t have much understanding of the sect competition, but now, standing in reality, he could finally feel the atmosphere of a grand event.

However, the grand event was less important than picking up trash. He soon discovered a mid-level herb and quickly bent down to pull it up, diving into the bushes.

Some people were busy searching for treasures in the woods, while others were bustling around the competition venue.

The boss was busy acting as a venue engineer, and because his master, San Zhang Lao, was in charge of external relations, he had to act as a host at the venue, meeting and conversing with the heads and elders of various sects, his mouth moving so fast it seemed like it might cramp up.

The smaller sects arrived early, most of them coming ahead of time, followed by the larger sects that were well-known. The first to arrive among the top sects was the Yao Sect, followed by the Qi Sect.

When the Qi Sect arrived, he finally perked up a bit and took a good look at the scene.

Great, he didn’t see the particular little friend he needed to pay attention to.

The massive flying boat landed, and a group of people slowly descended.

The leading disciple guided the way, and at the front was a middle-aged man dressed neatly, with a few strands of white hair mixed in.

That was the head of the Qi Sect, the first and only person capable of refining purple-grade treasures. Others respected him, slightly bowing as he appeared.

He had a dignified appearance, wearing a dark robe with silver-gray patterns, and his presence was imposing. The person walking behind him, however, was the opposite.

Dressed in bright red robes, he walked with large strides, his robes billowing, and his face was full of unrestrained flamboyance and a fiery aura.

This was Chen Jinghao, who was said to have a talent for refining that was rare in a thousand years, and he was early on dubbed a genius as the young master of the sect. When his gaze swept through the crowd, it was filled with an undisguised scrutiny, his natural arrogance fully on display.

If it weren’t for the slight resemblance in their brows and eyes, it would be hard to believe he was the son of the head of the Qi Sect.

The participating disciples were taken to their temporary accommodations by designated personnel, while the elders and sect leaders stayed behind to chat with other sect leaders and elders.

The boss arranged for everyone to take their seats, and after settling them in, he wiped the sweat from his brow, feeling more exhausted than when he practiced swordsmanship. When he turned around, he found that the young master, who had been in the crowd, had inexplicably disappeared.

No one was behaving themselves. Not knowing where he had gone, the boss’s brow twitched, and he quickly searched the crowd.

“If Senior Brother Xu is looking for the young master of the Qi Sect,” said a disciple who had been following him, “he seems to have gone to find Sister Mingyue and headed towards the inner door.”

Sister Mingyue, known in the sect for her beauty and talent, seemed to hit the aesthetic mark for him, making her one of the few people he would actively seek out.

“…”

During the sect competition, the inner door would be temporarily opened for others to visit. Although it was open, it seemed a bit too quick for him to disappear right after landing. The boss fell silent for a moment before finally saying, “Alright.”

Then he asked, “Does he know how to get to the inner door?”

The disciple hesitated, unsure, and said, “The young master has been here twice, so he should know the way.”

He added, “He should have a personal attendant with him, so it’s no problem if he doesn’t know the way.”

With someone by his side, it was no issue. The people from the Hehuan Sect had also arrived, so the boss decided not to worry about this side anymore and turned to welcome the next group. If he had known it would be this busy, he would have gone back to Guiyu City.

——

Chen Jinghao was alone.

He hadn’t come to truly participate in the sect competition; he was just accompanying his father to take a look and wasn’t participating. Not participating meant it was irrelevant to him, and he didn’t care about irrelevant matters. Instead, he wanted to find something nice to look at.

His attendants, who were extremely beautiful and somewhat inappropriate, had been replaced for this outing. He didn’t want to look at them and didn’t want anyone following him around, so he took the opportunity to slip away.

Tianzong was vast, but the path in his memory wasn’t winding. The entrance to the inner door was easy to find; theoretically, he should be able to find it just by walking around a bit.

Well, theoretically.

He followed a stone-paved path, walking until the path disappeared, surrounded by trees. Until then, he had thought so.

He was never the type to stay put and wait, so he walked a bit further, tapping his closed folding fan against his palm, finally confirming something.

He was lost.

All around him were deep green woods, with only a few rays of sunlight filtering through the overlapping leaves, casting a sparse light on the ground covered in fallen leaves.

It was all trees and grass, and he couldn’t tell where he had come from or where to go. Habitually, he patted his side pocket, only to realize that the bag he usually kept there was missing, probably left behind in his room.

It felt like he was in a deep mountain that could swallow a person whole. Occasionally, birds flew overhead, creating a flurry of wingbeats.

When the gentle breeze blew, it rustled the leaves, sounding like the noise made by a lurking beast. Beasts turning into demons required talent and abundant spiritual energy, and in Tianzong, spiritual energy was the one thing they had in abundance.

“Whoosh—”

As the wind stilled and the last rustle of leaves faded, a slight movement caught his eye in the bushes, followed by a faint sound.

“Swish—”

Almost simultaneously with the sound, the folding fan in his hand opened, transforming into a streak of red light that shot out, a flicker of fire flashing through the air.

As the leaves fluttered, those that came into contact with the phantom of the fan were neatly sliced in half, scattering through the air.

Then a shadow emerged, and the fan, which had been moving faster than the shadow, suddenly got stuck, producing a loud grinding sound. As his gaze shifted, he barely had time to see a flash of green clothing.

A heavy weight pressed against his waist, and a strong force surged toward him, causing him to topple to the side. After rolling once, his back slammed against the ground, and something cold pressed against his neck.

He couldn’t help but gasp, raising his eyes to unexpectedly meet a pair of clear eyes.

They were very close, and he could smell the scent of grass and wood. Those eyes blinked slowly, carrying a hint of surprise, and the cold object pressing against his neck also disappeared.

It was a sword, a wooden sword, which was pulled away from his neck and stabbed into the ground beside him, barely grazing his ear as it fell, the gust of wind lifting his stray hairs and creating a sound of slicing through the air.

“So it’s a person.”

The hardworking laborer Lin had been peacefully picking herbs in the bushes, but he hadn’t expected something to suddenly jump out. Thinking it was another beast attacking, he had instinctively struck back, but thankfully he confirmed before actually attacking.

The wooden sword sank into the ground as he straightened his body, standing up while pulling the sword out, casually wiping off the dirt, and bending down to pick up the fallen folding fan. He extended his hand toward the person on the ground, apologizing while asking, “Why did you sneak attack me?”

Chen Jinghao took the folding fan but didn’t shake his hand, instead pushing himself up from the ground. Only when he stood did he realize that a burning pain was radiating from his waist.

In that brief moment, he had already sustained several injuries. They weren’t serious, but if that wooden sword hadn’t stopped in time, it might have been more than just injuries. His hand, holding the fan, moved slightly as he looked at the person standing not far away.

The face was unremarkable, not matching the eyes and voice at all, with a few blades of grass stuck in his hair and clothes. He was thin, holding a broken wooden sword, looking gentle and harmless, completely unrecognizable from the person who had just pinned him down with a sword to his throat in the blink of an eye.

Frowning slightly, he asked, “Who are you?”

Lin Zhusheng was even more surprised, looking down at his own school uniform, thinking his identity should be quite obvious. Out of a bit of tolerance for outsiders, he patiently replied, “An outer sect disciple.”

He recognized this person’s appearance and face, and his brow lifted as he said, “Are you lost?”

Though it was a question, it was more of a statement.

In the game, he had interacted quite a bit with this current young master of the Qi Sect, who would be the future sect leader. What he remembered more than the identity of the young master was his terrible sense of direction.

He had gotten lost five times trying to find him, and each time Lin had to lead the way, becoming skilled enough to consider a side job as a tour guide.

Feeling slightly poked by the tone of his statement, Chen Jinghao subtly swallowed his original words and denied, “I came here to relax.”

“Oh.”

Lin Zhusheng carefully checked his little broken wooden sword for any scratches from the fan while asking, “How long have you been lost?”

Chen Jinghao insisted he was just out for a stroll.

Great, there were no scratches on the sword. Lin Zhusheng put away the little broken wooden sword and asked, “Can you find your way back by yourself?”

Chen Jinghao reiterated that he wasn’t lost.

Automatically filtering out the nonsense, Lin Zhusheng asked again, “Where were you originally trying to go?”

“…” Chen Jinghao replied, “The inner door.”

The inner door, huh. The inner door was quite far from here, and he hadn’t planned to go that way today, so Lin Zhusheng patted him on the shoulder and said, “If you turn around and walk straight, you can get back to the training grounds. Just say a word, and someone should take you there.”

It was clear that the fact he was lost had been exposed, so Chen Jinghao said, “Could you take me there?”

After smoothing his hair and adjusting his clothes, he looked like a graceful young master, and with his good looks, he seemed quite charming when he asked softly. But Lin Zhusheng wasn’t buying it; his eyes were only on the unfinished trash he had yet to pick up. He simply said, “I have things to do.”

At this moment, leading the way would likely increase his favorability, but compared to the fruits and herbs that would be gone after this period, it was clear what was more important.

Though he almost forgot, he still vaguely remembered his senior brother’s earlier advice to avoid contact with outsiders, especially those from the Qi Sect.

Chen Jinghao said, “I can offer a reward.”

Lin Zhusheng instantly turned his head, quickly dismissing his senior brother’s warning from his mind.

Fifty gold for a single trip, and even better, it was gold, not silver. That was much more profitable than picking up trash all over the mountains, so he agreed.

But the condition for leading the way was that he had to finish searching the remaining areas of this mountain. He went to the task center to pick up some tasks, and finishing this mountain should complete them.

Chen Jinghao agreed.

Or maybe he shouldn’t have agreed. It wasn’t until the mountain path became increasingly rugged and they got closer to the dense forest that he realized what “finishing” meant.

The pampered young master was venturing into a place like this for the first time. Every time he thought there was no path and wanted to turn back, the person in front would pull out a sword and forcibly carve a path.

Lin Zhusheng followed behind, watching for a long time, unable to figure out where this seemingly thin person got so much strength.

He didn’t know how far they had wandered, and he couldn’t tell the direction, but he could see that the sunlight filtering down from above was getting dimmer.

By the time the afternoon was halfway through, the tasks he had taken were completed, and Lin Zhusheng finally led the young master back.

It was his first time navigating such a rugged and complicated mountain path for so long, and the young master, who had never really suffered, was starting to feel exhausted, especially with his injuries.

After jumping up a steep slope, Lin Zhusheng looked back at the person behind him and, after thinking for half a second, extended his hand, saying, “Do you need a hand? Just hang in there; we’re almost there.”

The young master, though in a sorry state, had a natural pride. He pushed himself up and leaped onto the steep slope.

Lin Zhusheng retracted his hand, smiling and complimenting him.

The young master was indeed the young master; he managed to hold on until they were near the training grounds.

Once they could see the temporary high platform set up at the training grounds, Lin Zhusheng finally stopped, turning to say, “We’ve arrived at the training grounds.”

He pointed to another mountain peak in the distance and said, “That’s the entrance to the inner door.”

After saying that, he glanced back at the person who had already sat down on the ground and quietly asked, “By the way, are you still going?”

“…”

In a disheveled state, with his feet almost numb, Chen Jinghao decided not to go, or rather, he couldn’t go anymore.

The task of leading the way ended here. Lin Zhusheng rubbed his hands together, politely bringing up his reward.

Since he hadn’t taken him to the inner door, the reward could be discounted, but it couldn’t be zero.

The young master, who was generous yet principled, still gave him the agreed-upon reward even though they hadn’t reached the intended destination.

Once the reward was in hand, Lin Zhusheng’s smile instantly widened, becoming even more sincere.

With the task completed, and since he didn’t need to take him to the inner door, he could leave now. He waved his hand, preparing to say goodbye when he suddenly heard the sound of a sword ringing in the air not far away.

Together with the young master, they looked up to see a disciple in a blue school uniform soaring past on a sword, effortlessly and elegantly crossing several mountain peaks until they disappeared from view.

“…”

Feeling the silent gaze from the person beside him, in the quiet moment, Lin Zhusheng slowly withdrew his gaze, scratching his head and suddenly realizing, “I can also fly on a sword.”

His big sword could carry more than just one Chen Jinghao; it could easily carry ten. The journey that had taken over an hour could actually be resolved in just two minutes.

Stealing a glance sideways, he met the young master’s gaze and noticed the folding fan he was unconsciously gripping tightly.

“Let’s avoid violence, okay?”

Taking a tactical step back, halfway through, he realized something. He didn’t lower his hand that was scratching his head and scratched again, saying, “By the way, it seems like you can’t beat me either.”

The young master of the Qi Sect had a good talent for refining and decent cultivation talent, but he didn’t like hard work and rarely practiced seriously. Most of the time, he was out having fun with others, so it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to beat Lin Zhusheng.

Chen Jinghao: “…”

Before the young master could jump up to test if he could beat Lin Zhusheng, Lin Zhusheng quickly stuffed a fruit into his arms and, feeling a bit guilty, helped him brush off the leaves from his head, patting it twice and comforting him, “I know the sect well. If you need anything tomorrow, I can guide you again, I promise to take you there.”

He shouldn’t have patted him; with that pat, more leaf fragments fell, swirling down in the wind.

Chen Jinghao didn’t know whether to laugh in anger or be amused by the falling leaves. He pushed himself up from the ground, brushed off his sleeves, and said, “Let’s hope they don’t show up again.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Lin Zhusheng said honestly, “I still need to build a good relationship with you.”

The action of brushing off his sleeves paused, and Chen Jinghao turned to meet Lin Zhusheng’s clear and sincere eyes in the light. His eyelids twitched, and after a moment of thought, he said, “Just so you know, I don’t like men.”

“Hmm?”

Lin Zhusheng was momentarily taken aback, but then he realized, letting out a quiet sigh of relief, and smiled up at him, saying, “That’s even better.”

His relief was subtle, but Chen Jinghao still noticed it, raising his brow sharply and saying, “You think I would be interested in you?”

His tone was filled with disbelief and a strong conviction about his own sexual orientation and standards for partners.

“Not at all.”

Lin Zhusheng was in a good mood and stuffed another snack into Chen Jinghao’s hand, walking away while turning back to wave, “I’m off now; the snacks are better when they’re warm.”