Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 39 Cultivating the Path of Ruthlessness

"Okay, then I'll call you Ruyan."

Zhang Chengdao readily agreed and then beckoned Murong Ruyan to walk up the mountain. As they walked, he said, "It's a bit austere in the mountains. Your senior brother, the sect leader, and I live in that thatched hut in the courtyard. However, that courtyard is too narrow to build any more houses. So, I'll enclose another courtyard for you to live in for now. When I have some free time, I'll carefully renovate the houses in the sect."

Murong Ruyan followed beside her, leading her horse. She was no longer the spirited and ambitious woman she had been just moments before. Instead, she appeared unusually obedient and spoke gently, "I will leave everything to Master's arrangements."

"Okay, we'll call you when it's time to eat. If you need anything, just ask Manager Xu, he's the one."

Zhang Chengdao pointed to Xu Ying beside him, then added, "Oh, right, there's one more thing,"

As he spoke, he suddenly stopped and looked at Murong Ruyan with a solemn expression. He said in a very serious tone, "Ruyan, after you establish your foundation, whatever weapons, spells, or supernatural powers you cultivate, I will have no requirements and will not interfere. There is only one thing you must abide by: you must cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness!"

Murong Ruyan, who knew nothing about cultivation, was taken aback: "The Path of Ruthlessness? What is the Path of Ruthlessness?"

"It means severing all emotional ties and love. Of course, if you become an empress in the future and need to produce an heir, that's another story. But you must remember that you must not have any romantic relationships with others, and you must not pursue any romantic love or entanglements. In particular, ignore any man who makes you feel that 'he is different from other men' or any man who 'has never been this good to you before.' If you see any suspicious people, you can ask your master to take a look..."

Generally speaking, "Empress Ruyan" is a famous villainous female supporting character or a harem female supporting character. Every time she falls, it is inevitably because of the male lead. Therefore, all people who seem to be the male lead template should be kept at a distance by Murong Ruyan!
Except for that kid Chang Ping'an!

While calculating in his mind, Zhang Chengdao deliberately scared her, saying, "In short, remember, I have calculated that your path to immortality is the path of ruthlessness. As long as you develop feelings, at best you will become one of the male lead's... cough, someone else's harem, at worst you will lose your life, or even your soul will be scattered!"

"This disciple could never be preoccupied with love..." Murong Ruyan subconsciously wanted to refute, but before she could finish speaking, she changed her tone and honestly replied, "This disciple remembers!"

As they spoke, the simple thatched hut gradually came into view in the distance. Even the golden plaque that read "White Stone Immortal Sect" hanging on the gate could not hide the overall atmosphere of poverty.

Even though she had never lived such a miserable life, Murong Ruyan, who was following Zhang Chengdao, paused for a moment before continuing to follow him as if nothing had happened.

But a sense of doubt crept into my mind.

Could it be false information that she heard from the Sword Forging Manor?

But those were the words of Wan Qizhang, the young master of the Sword Forging Manor. The heir of the prestigious Sword Forging Manor wouldn't lie... But why would this "White Stone Immortal" be so obsessed with "nature"?
"Alright, you can stay here for a while."

Hesitantly, Zhang Chengdao stopped and settled the three people to wait aside. Then, he brought up his backpack in the panel and began to place the [Bamboo Fence] one by one.

He made a lot of these things when he had nothing to do, but he was worried that he wouldn't have enough when he needed them. Because all those buildings that had to be built in the wild all over the mountains had to be surrounded by bamboo fences to prevent wild animals from rushing in or to prevent clueless lost martial artists from getting curious.

Dozens of bamboo fences were set up, enclosing a smaller courtyard right next to the original one. A wooden-tiled house was built at the innermost part of the courtyard, and a stone stove, previously packed into his backpack, was placed next to it. He then dusted off his sleeves and gestured to Murong Ruyan, saying, "This is where you'll stay temporarily. There should be bedding inside. If you need anything else, you'll have to ask Steward Xu. If the sect doesn't have it, you can go with your senior brother to buy some wheat next time he goes down the mountain." Murong Ruyan barely registered what Zhang Chengdao said; she was staring at everything before her, her face filled with shock, even holding her breath.

At this moment, the contempt that had just arisen in her heart was gone.

So what if the house is simple? Who can conjure up even the simplest house in a few breaths?
This was created out of thin air!

No wonder everyone down the mountain calls their master a "deity"—he really is a deity!
"Like smoke, like smoke?"

After an unknown amount of time, and hearing Zhang Chengdao's voice many times, Murong Ruyan finally reacted. She turned her head blankly, her mouth opening and closing: "So there really are gods in this world, and they can really create things out of thin air?"

“Hahahaha,” Zhang Chengdao’s master’s baggage was greatly satisfied. He replied with a smile, “This is not something created out of thin air. The bamboo and wood were cut down and stored away long ago. When needed, they were taken out. So it is not something created out of thin air.”

"Oh, I see. But, but that's still incredible..."

Murong Ruyan's tone was a little unsteady, and she was still a bit slow to react.

"Ruyan, you need to feed your horse yourself, but I can give you some feed, though it's chicken feed..."

As he spoke, Zhang Chengdao synthesized several portions of chicken feed from his backpack and took them out.

No sooner had the feed been exposed to the air than the horse beside Murong Ruyan neighed and began to pull her closer to Zhang Chengdao. It lowered its head, grabbed the feed from his hand, and began to chew it greedily, its eyes squinting with delight.

"This beast!"

Murong Ruyan cursed under her breath, her face flushed with anger and embarrassment. She pulled hard on the reins, trying to tame the horse. But this usually good-natured dappled horse was like a stubborn mule today, refusing to budge and insisting on eating its fodder. It even snorted heavily, clearly very unhappy with Murong Ruyan for stopping it from eating!

Zhang Chengdao casually handed the feed to Murong Ruyan, and the horse, like a sunflower chasing the sun, kept moving its head following the movement of the feed until Murong Ruyan reluctantly divided the feed into smaller portions and started feeding it, at which point it finally stopped.

However, Zhang Chengdao was also somewhat surprised. This feed was a crafting item that was automatically unlocked after he unlocked the [Chicken Coop]. It was also the feed used when raising chickens, and the raw material only required weeds, which was both high-quality and inexpensive. But he did not expect that even horses would like this feed so much!

Moreover, it was only at this point that he began to wonder: Is chicken feed actually grass?

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(End of this chapter)