Chapter 16: Slacking Off, Day Sixteen
Wen Ying was finally expelled from her master’s tutelage, but not entirely from the sect.
Lin Yu only stated he would no longer be Wen Ying’s master, not that he would expel her from Xun Xian Sect.
In other words, Wen Ying had merely been demoted from a direct disciple to an ordinary inner sect disciple.
She still had to interact with the main characters, and the missions would continue. The slacking-off policy remained in effect.
To be expelled from Xun Xian Sect, unless Lin Yu informed the Sect Master, it required deliberation and unanimous decision by Ru Song and the five elders.
Xun Xian Sect had such precedents and would have more in the future.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t Wen Ying.
Being expelled from her master’s tutelage simply meant a change of residence.
As for her new residence… Wen Ying had already decided.
After leaving Lin Yu’s courtyard, Wen Ying found an uninhabited place, snapped her fingers, and instantly teleported to her cave dwelling.
Speaking of the cave dwelling’s origin, it reminded Wen Ying of the past.
To avoid the ultimate death, starting from the tenth cycle, Wen Ying had diligently cultivated both Daoist and demonic cultivation alongside her missions.
After all, Wen Ying could never reach the max level with the meager rewards from the missions—
Because the maximum level for cultivation and demonic cultivation was one thousand.
Every one hundred system levels corresponded to one stage of cultivation or demonic cultivation in this world.
In this world of intertwined and complex backstories, the demonic cultivation levels and cultivation system were rather rudimentary—not even the traditional Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core stages, but simply “A-rank, B-rank, C-rank,” with A-rank roughly equivalent to Qi Condensation, and K-rank equivalent to ascension.
…At least they used A, B, C, D instead of 1, 2, 3, 4.
The cave dwelling was created around the fortieth cycle.
By then, Wen Ying had reached the J-rank, level 999. Aiming for the max level, she searched for places with concentrated spiritual energy to level up by hunting monsters.
The Green Valley mentioned earlier was one of many places; it was only barely memorable because the spirit beasts there were exceptionally weak.
Until she came to an unnamed high mountain.
This mountain was located above a spiritual vein. Not only was it lush and vibrant with abundant spiritual energy, but it also had numerous high-level ferocious beasts.
Wen Ying saw it as a treasure trove!
She spent two days slaughtering her way from the foot of the mountain to the top, scaring the animals so much that they ran at the sight of her.
Luckily, she reached max level upon reaching the summit.
Max level was roughly equivalent to K-rank, but there was a subtle difference. After true ascension, the cycle would restart.
Then, the system appeared.
[Congratulations, Host! Your cultivation level has reached max level! System reward: One cave dwelling!]
At that time, Wen Ying was a naive child, genuinely believing the system would conjure a cave dwelling out of thin air.
Wen Ying waited, nothing happened.
“Where’s the cave dwelling?” Wen Ying asked.
[What are you thinking, Host? Of course, you have to dig it yourself. Look at all these stones here; the spiritual energy is so abundant, it’s perfect for digging a cave to use as a cave dwelling!]
Wen Ying: “…Can this even be called a reward?”
[Of course! Although you dug it yourself, it’s nominally given by the system. Like other items, the cave dwelling and everything in it have inheritance functionality!]
At that time, Wen Ying had scoffed—I’ve already reached max level in cultivation this life; will I be reincarnated again?
Later…
Wen Ying only wanted to say, “Scummy system!”
Fortunately, the location was indeed beautiful. Wen Ying casually blasted a large hole in a suitably located rock face with a good view, and after later renovations, it became her current cave dwelling.
Looking back, Wen Ying’s choice wasn’t bad.
The cave dwelling was located atop a misty mountain peak, extremely beautiful. Because of the numerous ferocious beasts at the foot and mid-section of the mountain, few cultivators set foot here, making it pristine and ideal for retirement.
Entering the cave dwelling, Wen Ying designed it as a three-bedroom, one-living-room layout, with stone tables and chairs in the living room. One room was a kitchen, one was a storage room, and the other… Wen Ying left it empty, for possible future use.
Now, it was being used.
Wen Ying took out various pieces of furniture from the spatial ring and arranged them as before in her new home.
After finishing everything, Wen Ying looked at her new home with satisfaction and clapped her hands.
Cultivation did make life convenient. Moving house was so easy.
Wen Ying didn’t plan to stay in the cave dwelling all the time.
Because something big would happen in Xun Xian Sect soon.
Wen Ying really wanted to watch the excitement—to watch a show! Who wouldn’t love it?!
Life had become so monotonous; just relying on those few cabinets of novels was ultimately boring. Since there was a performance, why not watch it? Let’s go!
…
Wen Ying returned to Xun Xian Sect in due course.
No one in Xun Xian Sect noticed Wen Ying’s departure—the protective formation was undisturbed; who would imagine someone could leave the seemingly impenetrable Xun Xian Sect?
The Xun Xian Sect disciples were not discussing the gossip about Wen Ying’s expulsion from her master’s tutelage.
This time, it wasn’t that the war correspondent wasn’t competent, but that something more important was happening.
Everyone was rushing towards the square in front of the hall.
As Wen Ying said, something big was about to happen—
“I heard that the Sect Master is calling us to the square to announce the real culprit behind the release of the ferocious beast?”
“It wasn’t actually Wen Ying? In our sect, besides Wen Ying, is there anyone else capable of such a vicious act?”
“We’ll find out when we get there. Oh, right, I heard there’s a new disciple initiation ceremony today… but it’s not really important.”
“Hey, the initiation ceremony is just the usual spirit root testing, self-introduction, and square sparring. Our sect has new recruits every few days; that’s not a big deal. I’m more curious about Wen Ying…”
Two disciples talked as they hurried past.
Uh… This seemed slightly different from what Wen Ying had anticipated.
As Wen Ying said, this second female lead with fifty-two layers of identity was indeed more famous than the protagonists.
After all, according to the original plot, the disciples entering were the male and female leads.
That should have been… their grand debut.