As soon as Gu Baiqing got down, he caught the smell of food in the air. He was about to enter the door when he suddenly heard someone call out.
“Master.”
Gu Baiqing turned around in some surprise and looked toward Mo Xuanli.
He saw Mo Xuanli walking over carrying dishes.
Gu Baiqing immediately frowned, a bad feeling rising. “Why are you here so early? What are you doing?”
Mo Xuanli’s gaze flickered slightly, and he smiled shamelessly. “Master, your disciple just arrived. I saw the child attendant busy, so I helped carry the dishes.”
Hearing Mo Xuanli’s explanation, Gu Baiqing let out a sigh of relief. Just now he had thought Mo Xuanli had disobeyed him again and come over to cook for him.
At this moment, the child attendant was quietly staying in his own room, feeling uneasy—if he didn’t cook, would the elder really not blame him? Why did this disciple always steal my job…
Mo Xuanli cautiously observed Gu Baiqing’s expression. Seeing it return to its usual calmness, he asked, “Master, the food is ready. You may eat now.”
Gu Baiqing nodded and walked inside. “Next time, don’t come so early. Come at the hour of Wei.”
“Yes, Master.”
Seeing Mo Xuanli so respectful and obedient, with a smile on his face as if yesterday’s sadness had never happened, Gu Baiqing thought—well, with this child’s past experiences, his ability to withstand setbacks should be strong. And to think he had worried a little before. In that case, from now on, he would be a strict teacher who never let Mo Xuanli feel even the slightest favoritism.
Gu Baiqing was full of confidence for the future.
After sitting down, he saw that Mo Xuanli was, as yesterday, planning to stand by and serve him during the meal. That was unnecessary.
“There’s a mind technique book on the desk over there. Go read it—you don’t need to stay here.” It was the one Gu Baiqing had chosen based on the original story after receiving the task. It should be correct.
Mo Xuanli had wanted to serve his master well, but seeing he disliked it, he could only obey.
When he came to the desk on the other side of the room, he felt puzzled—why had it been replaced with a new one? Was the old one broken?
Right in the center of the desk lay a book he found familiar—it was the Wind Spirit Root introductory sword cultivator mind technique.
Mo Xuanli’s breath caught. He didn’t even need to open the book—he already knew it by heart.
After entering the inner sect, he had studied diligently, naturally researching in advance which beginner path suited him best.
He had both wind and fire spirit roots. He needed to choose one to start with. After careful study, based on his spiritual power, beginning with the wind spirit root method would be more beneficial to his cultivation.
Mo Xuanli couldn’t help but secretly glance at his master eating, a strong emotion welling in his heart.
Everything he had learned today made him realize something for the first time—
Someone truly cared for him, considering him an important priority.
That person was his master, Gu Baiqing.
Had he finally… stopped being alone?
Maybe for other close master-disciple pairs, what his master did was normal, but for Mo Xuanli, it was like a person struggling through the desert suddenly seeing a sweet spring—its meaning was completely different.
He was actually very smart, but he had never dared to believe anyone would do such things for him, so he had never doubted anything his master said or did. Only when others pointed it out did he realize how well his master treated him.
He silently swore to himself: in the upcoming sect competition, if Master wants me to take first place, then I will absolutely do it—I will never let Master lose face. In the future, if he wants me to surpass Senior Sister Nan Zhi, even Junior Uncle, I will do it.
Otherwise, I would be unworthy of Master’s teaching and care.
At this moment, Mo Xuanli was already dazed by the heavy blows of “meticulous care.” As for the unreasonable parts—like why it was absolutely necessary to move—he had long forgotten.
He knew his master was strict outside but soft inside, disciplined himself and others, disliked clinginess, and didn’t want him to know everything he did behind the scenes. Then he would just pretend not to know.
He would carve Master’s kindness into his heart forever, never forgetting even the smallest bit, always holding gratitude.
Mo Xuanli’s gaze fixed on Gu Baiqing’s figure, full of reverent attachment.
Suddenly, he felt his master looked a little different today. Though he could only see the side of his face, those sharply defined features, shaped as if by ice and snow, no longer seemed cold but soft instead. His picturesque sword brows slanted toward the temples, his deep eyes naturally elongated at the corners; when he blinked, his curved lashes fluttered like black feathers, casting a beautiful shadow under his eyes.
And on his forehead, the faintly visible pale blue lightning mark—
Before, he had known his master was handsome; now he felt he looked like an immortal.
Dressed in flowing white, Gu Baiqing was so beautiful it felt almost wrong to approach.
Yet Mo Xuanli suddenly had a rebellious thought—he wanted to be closer to his master.
After all, he was the personal disciple. Surely he had the right to be closer to Master than anyone else.
[Ding, Demonization value +1]
Gu Baiqing, who had just bitten into a delicious rib, almost choked himself to death. He immediately looked back at Mo Xuanli in shock.
Why did the demonization value go up for no reason?
But Mo Xuanli looked completely normal, just holding the book and glancing this way.
When their gazes met, Mo Xuanli seemed to snap out of something.
“What’s wrong with you?” Gu Baiqing asked a little cautiously.
But Mo Xuanli seemed to have made up his mind. “Master, your disciple… smelled the food, and got a little dizzy from hunger.”
Gu Baiqing was dumbfounded. What’s going on? Starving until dizzy—can the demonization value even increase like that? The system isn’t going to come out and explain, just keep reporting numbers?
“You came over without eating?” Gu Baiqing asked.
Mo Xuanli smiled shyly. “I was worried Master would be waiting for me, so…”
Gu Baiqing was a bit speechless. He glanced at the time—by now, the dining hall probably didn’t have any food left. Forget it, there were plenty of dishes today anyway. He waved Mo Xuanli over to eat together so he wouldn’t get so hungry it became unbearable and the demonization value increased again.
“Come on, eat together.” Gu Baiqing beckoned.
Mo Xuanli’s eyes instantly lit up. As expected… Master was easy to talk to. He quickly picked up a bowl and chopsticks again and sat down to eat with his Master.
“Just this once. I like eating alone.” Gu Baiqing added, just in case.
Mo Xuanli’s expression paused for a moment, then he nodded with a smile. “Disciple has troubled Master. I won’t disturb Master’s meals again in the future.”
Mo Xuanli happily picked up his bowl, treating this shared meal as a rare event to be cherished.
Gu Baiqing felt like he seemed much bolder now compared to before.
It wasn’t that Gu Baiqing wanted his disciple to always be timid, but the current change inexplicably made him feel a kind of animal-like wariness.
Soon though, Gu Baiqing’s attention shifted to the demonization value.
The demonization value represented Mo Xuanli’s demonic nature, and also the loosening of the seal inside him. As the points increased, he would be more likely to step into the demonic path, his strength greatly increasing. But according to the system’s settings, under fifty points it wouldn’t affect his nature enough to harm others—it would just make him harder to discipline.
So, at only 4 points, Gu Baiqing didn’t think it was worth worrying about. Maybe it was just a mood change causing the fluctuation.
A very hungry person’s mood would indeed be bad. Of course, this was a bit excessive. Gu Baiqing suspected he’d been bullied somewhere else, after all, he was still weak right now.
Gu Baiqing comforted himself, didn’t ask, and just instructed: “From now on, eat your fill before coming over. I don’t want you listening to my lessons on an empty stomach—it wastes my time.”
Mo Xuanli quickly nodded, but inside he couldn’t help feeling full in his heart—Master cared about him again. Having someone remind him to eat well was so nice.
After the meal, Mo Xuanli had Gu Baiqing drink tea, while he went to find the little child attendant to clean up and keep quiet.
The past two times, each meal had five completely different dishes, and Master liked every one of them. Mo Xuanli could tell his cooking matched Master’s tastes perfectly, but Master didn’t want him wasting time and effort. Still, Mo Xuanli felt that even if it was just cooking, he wanted to do it wholeheartedly to make Master happy. And he never thought something so simple would delay anything.
Using filial devotion as an excuse, he coaxed the child attendant into helping. From then on, he would secretly prepare Master’s three daily meals, and the child attendant would just deliver them. With some extra benefits promised, the child attendant naturally had no reason to refuse. Even if he couldn’t share a table with Master anymore, he could still eat the same dishes, hiding in the kitchen to do so.
Only…
When the child attendant came over, Gu Baiqing specially praised his cooking. The child attendant accepted the compliment with a smile, but when he turned around, he found Mo Xuanli wearing an unhappy expression, like someone had stolen from him.
The child attendant shivered—this disciple really wasn’t normal.
After that, the teaching check-in began.
Using the original body’s memories and the cultivation manual, Gu Baiqing explained each point to Mo Xuanli. Mo Xuanli was very smart, able to draw inferences and grasp things immediately, and with a photographic memory, he was a total top student. Gu Baiqing even felt he wasn’t needed—this kid could succeed just by self-study.
After explaining, Gu Baiqing added some of the original body’s learning tips, then had Mo Xuanli meditate and practice in the courtyard.
Gu Baiqing wanted to cultivate too, but it was useless for him, so he just thought idly. Maybe because of the pill Luo Nianyi had given him, he couldn’t help getting drowsy.
“Master? Are you tired?” Mo Xuanli’s voice interrupted his nap.
“Ah? No… just the midday drowsiness. You’ve finished cultivating?”
Mo Xuanli nodded, pressed his palms together, and made a flower-hand gesture. A small stream of wind roared through his hands.
Gu Baiqing heard a ding in his mind—today’s check-in was successful.
He smiled slightly. It was earlier than he’d expected—too bad there was only one lesson today. Otherwise, he’d have added electives to increase the workload.
“All right, go back. We’ll continue tomorrow.”
Mo Xuanli stood and said, “Master, since you get sleepy at midday, why don’t we switch to the evening instead?” Mornings were Chunyang Pavilion’s fixed cultivation time, which he couldn’t miss. Only evenings were free.
Hearing this suggestion instantly woke Teacher Gu up.
Another scheme? Night lessons meant moonlit sword practice, heart-to-heart talks under lamplight—romantic and ambiguous atmospheres could arise at any time. This wasn’t late-night reading—it was better to keep the dry, dull cultural class during the most drowsy afternoon hours to avoid any thoughts from arising.
“No, afternoon is fine. No change.”
Mo Xuanli obediently agreed.
So, for the month before the sect’s inner competition, Mo Xuanli kept this training schedule.
One day, Mo Xuanli had just finished sparring with Tang Yu.
Tang Yu laid on the ground, panting heavily. “Are you even human? You’re a medical cultivator, even if you’re at the peak of Qi Refining. Your sword cultivation experience is just starting—how are you this good? I’m ashamed of my identity as a sword cultivator. I suspect with equal cultivation, you could rank in the top ten of our Chunyang Pavilion. You’re a monster. I hope we only meet at the very end of the competition.”
Mo Xuanli smiled. “I’m leaving.” He still had to rush to Luofeng Pavilion to cook for his Master.
Tang Yu rolled over and, propping his chin on his hand, asked curiously, “You never eat with us—where do you even go? Don’t tell me it’s Luofeng Pavilion.”
Mo Xuanli did not reveal it, but instead smiled and said, “You’d better get up quickly. Today the vegetarian meal might have food made from spirit plants. Aren’t you going to fight for it?”
“You could have said so earlier.” At once, Tang Yu jumped up, threw an arm over Mo Xuanli’s shoulder, and said, “Give me a hand, my legs are weak.”
Mo Xuanli, in his good temper, supported him and walked out.
In Chunyang Pavilion there was a large grove of plum blossoms that grew because of the spiritual energy. Every time Mo Xuanli passed by, he would pick the freshest branch, hide it in his storage pouch, and bring it to Luofeng Pavilion to replace the vase in his master’s room with new blossoms.
This was the first time Tang Yu had seen Mo Xuanli leap up and pick a branch before dropping down again. Immediately, he cried out in surprise, “Well, well, have you secretly gotten yourself a little junior sister? Or a senior sister?”
Looking at Mo Xuanli’s expression—an unconscious joy on his face, the way he looked at the plum blossoms with a trace of affection—it was obvious he was wondering whether the other party would be happy to receive them.
Mo Xuanli just looked at him blankly. “What are you talking about?”
Tang Yu moved closer with a teasing tone. “Don’t tell me you don’t know. In our Zixiao Sect, giving plum branches has a special meaning. Brother, tell me honestly, who are you giving flowers to? I promise I won’t tell.”
“To change the flowers in my master’s vase.” Mo Xuanli looked puzzled. “Special meaning?”
Tang Yu choked for a moment. Alright, maybe he was being narrow-minded. This guy, although his face was just a little more handsome than Tang Yu’s and he often received flirtatious glances from women, didn’t seem to have figured things out yet. “So that’s it. Forget I said anything. Once you get to the inner sect competition, you’ll know the meaning of giving plum branches.”
Mo Xuanli thought about Tang Yu’s expression, recalled that occasionally male disciples would also pick plum branches, and the smiles on their faces were different—seemed like it was related to affection. But Mo Xuanli didn’t think much of it. That was just little romances between young men and women, nothing to do with him and his master.
Tang Yu perked up again and laughed. “If you ever have someone you want to give them to, you have to tell me so I can gossip.”
Mo Xuanli shook his head helplessly. That kind of thing had nothing to do with him. He hadn’t even solved his own problems yet, so he had never thought about it.
After saying that, he carried the plum branch and flew off on his sword.
Passing through the maple forest of Luofeng Pavilion, Mo Xuanli habitually entered from the side, going straight past the disciples’ courtyard toward the kitchen to cook for his master.
But as soon as he neared the disciples’ courtyard, he saw a stranger in disciple robes.
Mo Xuanli instantly frowned, his hand instinctively going to the sword at his waist. “Which hall are you from, brother? Why are you here?”
The person turned around—a youth about Mo Xuanli’s age. He glanced at Mo Xuanli, his expression a little arrogant, his gaze sweeping over Mo Xuanli with a hint of disdain, but he did not reply.
Mo Xuanli found him somewhat familiar—probably from Zixiao Sect—so he relaxed slightly. But the next instant, as if seizing the moment, the youth suddenly drew the sword at his waist and attacked.
Mo Xuanli reacted extremely fast. With a turn and retreat, he threw out a talisman and counterattacked instantly.
When the talisman’s spell faded, Mo Xuanli was already thrusting with his sword.
But the moment the two blades met, Mo Xuanli’s wooden sword snapped in half. Even though it was wrapped in spiritual energy, it was no match for the spiritual weapon’s sharp blade.
The youth raised his sword to strike again. Forced to respond, Mo Xuanli reached into his storage pouch with a spell, trying to grab something handy to block with. Out came… a plum branch.
Mo Xuanli’s expression shifted—he was about to discard it, but the opponent’s sword moves came too quickly. He had no time to put it away, and the branch met the same fate as the wooden sword, the blossoms scattering under the shock of spiritual energy.
Mo Xuanli’s eyes darkened, an uncontrollable anger surging within him. But just then, the other person casually withdrew his sword and looked at Mo Xuanli with mocking eyes.
“With skill like that, you think you deserve to be Elder Luofeng’s disciple?”
Mo Xuanli immediately reined in his emotions, looking at the youth with some confusion.
The youth gave a short laugh and jerked his thumb toward himself. “Remember my name—Zhao An. Soon to be a disciple under Elder Luofeng. Be smart and leave Luofeng Pavilion on your own. I don’t want to have to call you senior brother.”
Mo Xuanli’s pupils contracted. Soon to be? Did that mean… Master was going to take another disciple?
Would he… no longer teach only me?
