Junior sister, I really need to control you

The next day, at dawn, in the council hall atop Bamboo Forest Peak.

As Vice Abbot Liang listened to Qi Jiushan's report, his hand, which was stroking his beard, paused.

"Junior brother, do you mean that the people guarding the temple volunteered to patrol despite their injuries?" He looked incredulous.

Aren't these people here to freeload?

Now that they are all injured, in keeping with their usual style, will they still accept their pay but use their injuries as an excuse to rest?

Besides, they were indeed injured this time.

Although the thunder talisman used by Li Yinsheng was not very powerful, it suppressed the cultivation of those Shouyi Temple disciples, leaving them unable to protect themselves, and each of them suffered serious injuries.

Vice Abbot Liang had even made preparations and tacitly approved of the members of Shouyi Temple reaping the benefits without lifting a finger this time.

Anyway, these were the people who squeezed in anyway, so even without them, we still have enough manpower. Let's just consider the extra money spent on talismans as being wasted.

In this way, Shouyi Temple received some compensation in a roundabout way, and he would have more grounds to reason with Shouyi Temple in the future.

But to everyone's surprise, these people from Shouyi Temple were willing to patrol despite their injuries, showing such selflessness!

Is the sun rising in the west?

"Senior brother, you must be surprised too? Me too, but this is what Fellow Daoist Zhao of Shouyi Temple told me personally."

“I was shocked and couldn’t believe it when I heard that,” Qi Jiushan said. “After repeatedly confirming with him, I was certain that he was not joking.”

"He said it might be too late for this morning's patrol, but he'll try his best to get the disciples together by noon. They'll definitely participate in the patrol by tomorrow morning at the latest. If they're late, we can deduct their pay!"

"Hiss... Patrol tomorrow morning?" Vice Abbot Liang frowned. "Their injuries can't be healed by tomorrow, can they? Don't the disciples have any objections?"

"Judging from the expressions of those disciples of Shouyi Temple, most of them were extremely unwilling, but that Fellow Daoist Zhao had a great deal of prestige. Once he spoke, none of the disciples dared to object," Qi Jiushan explained.

“How strange, how bizarre…” Vice Abbot Liang shook his head. “However, since Fellow Daoist Zhao is so enthusiastic, let’s not turn down his good intentions.”

"Yes! They should be allowed to contribute!" Qi Jiushan nodded in agreement.

……

It was past mid-morning, and we were halfway up the mountain.

Mu Xiaoyu is on patrol for another day.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Each patrol team has a fixed area and route, and after the first time, they become much more familiar with it.

The young monks from Huangzhu Temple, still holding compasses, led the way.

While observing the surroundings, Mu Xiaoyu and Wu Mingke chatted and laughed.

Lu Kuan deliberately lagged behind at the very back, continuing to practice his magic that combined staff techniques as he walked.

"Speaking of which, Little Fish, the magic sword you used yesterday seemed quite powerful," Wu Mingke whispered. "Could it be a low-grade magic sword?"

“Yes,” Mu Xiaoyu nodded, “This was the one my senior brother used before. After his cultivation level improved, he replaced it with a better one, and then gave me the old magic weapon.”

"A low-grade magic weapon..." Wu Mingke said with envy.

Her own magical artifact was just a second-rate one, which she bought during a sale at the Pifeng Temple shop.

Although she could barely afford to buy a low-grade magic artifact even after going bankrupt, cultivation involves spending money everywhere. No matter how important the magic artifact is, she couldn't spend all her money on it.

Fortunately, she managed to snag a lucrative position at Huangzhu Temple, where she only needed to patrol for fifteen days to earn three thousand talisman coins.

With this windfall, she was much more financially secure. Although replacing her magic artifacts with lower-grade ones was still a luxury, she could consider buying some Qi-boosting pills to aid her cultivation and even ask the temple's stewards for private guidance.

Although the temple regularly hosts eminent monks to give lectures, teach cultivation methods, and answer disciples' questions, the frequency is not high, and each lecture is attended by a large number of disciples, so not everyone has the opportunity to ask questions.

If they have extra money, many disciples will seek guidance from senior brothers and sisters with profound cultivation, or even senior uncles and aunts, to receive private tutoring.

Of course, those disciples who have already become apprentices and are directly taught by their own masters do not need to spend money to seek instruction from them.

Therefore, whenever Mu Xiaoyu complained about her senior brother's strictness, she couldn't help but sigh that her little sister was truly blessed but didn't know it.

She wanted someone to be stricter with her, and she'd have to pay to hire one.

Wu Mingke suppressed her complicated emotions, suddenly remembered something, and reminded Mu Xiaoyu.

"By the way, you should keep your low-grade magic sword safe. Don't let anyone see it easily. A low-grade magic weapon costs at least tens of thousands of talisman coins. You know, money can be a powerful motivator."

"Okay, I understand." Mu Xiaoyu nodded seriously.

After a pause, she asked with some curiosity, "Is it difficult to earn 10,000 talismans?"

Wu Mingke was taken aback.

I know you have a senior brother who spoils you, so you should be much more well-off than many cultivators of the same age and cultivation level. But you are already fifteen or sixteen years old. Why do you look like you have never done any work or earned money with talismans?

Despite her doubts, Wu Mingke still answered.

"Why don't you compare it with the others? This time, patrolling for Huangzhu Temple is already an extremely rare and lucrative job. We only get three thousand talismans for fifteen days. Other jobs can earn a lot of talismans a month."

Mu Xiaoyu's eyes widened in surprise: "So the reward for our patrol is three thousand talismans!"

Wu Mingke was taken aback again. The more she pondered his words, the more something seemed off: "You're only finding out about our payment now?"

"Okay!" Mu Xiaoyu nodded.

"Then why did you come here?" Wu Mingke asked.

"My senior brother sent me," Mu Xiaoyu said.

"Didn't he tell you how much money he had?" Wu Mingke asked, puzzled.

"My senior brother told me to gain some practical experience and earn some talisman money. It doesn't matter how much I earn, the important thing is to gain experience," Mu Xiaoyu said. "He said that I will have to participate in the Shifeng Conference and the Shaoyang Dao Examination in the future, and I can't do it without practical experience."

Isn't three thousand coins important?

Wu Mingke felt a little short of breath.

Just as the two were chatting and laughing in a pleasant atmosphere, a hand with distinct knuckles tapped Mu Xiaoyu on the head, making a pleasant sound like a wooden fish.

Mu Xiaoyu crouched down, covering her head. Although she didn't see the person who hit her, she recognized the familiar force and feeling immediately: "Senior Brother!"

“You dare to chat and laugh while on patrol, completely without vigilance,” Li Yinsheng said, standing behind Mu Xiaoyu. “If you encounter a monster that excels at sneak attacks and hiding, you’ll be in for a world of hurt!”

"Senior's advice is correct." Wu Mingke, who was standing to the side, quickly bowed and paid his respects.

The young man from Huangzhu Temple and Lu Kuan behind him bowed almost simultaneously. Li Yinsheng smiled and waved, indicating that the three of them did not need to be so polite.

Mu Xiaoyu squatted on the ground, puffed out her cheeks, and looked at Li Yinsheng: "Senior brother, you're wronging me! I was clearly on guard around me. You're just too elusive!"

Ever since she was frightened by the giant black-scaled python that her senior brother found on that mountain near Xuanzhen Peak, she has learned her lesson and never dares to let her guard down when traveling in the wild.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have noticed so quickly when Li Yinsheng hung the blue-bellied monkey on the tree yesterday.

But expecting her to notice her senior brother's sneak attack would be asking too much.

"Oh? Are you really that vigilant?" Li Yinsheng asked.

“That’s right!” Mu Xiaoyu stood up from the ground and said firmly.

Her consciousness remained slightly dispersed, wary of her surroundings.

"Then you should have noticed the bugs on your shoulder," Li Yinsheng said, pointing to Mu Xiaoyu's left shoulder and suppressing a laugh.

Mu Xiaoyu froze, slowly twisting her stiff neck to look at her left shoulder.

On my shoulder crawled an insect the size of a chick, resembling both a cicada and an ant.

"Wow ah ah-"

Mu Xiaoyu jumped up, her arms spinning like a windmill, and flung the bug off her shoulder.

At the same time, he quickly took out the Cold Leaf Sword from his Qiankun Bag and unleashed more than a dozen cyan sword lights, which flew towards the insect that had not yet landed.

Her Yin-Yang Dividing Light Sword had indeed reached a certain level of proficiency. More than a dozen streaks of azure light, each strike hitting the insect squarely and shattering it into a pile of tiny fragments in mid-air.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

After using the Yin-Yang Dividing Light Sword to send the insect away, Mu Xiaoyu was still somewhat shaken.

Li Yinsheng looked at the changed pale gold characters in front of him, his expression unchanged, but a hint of surprise welled up in his heart.

[Current spell training time: Seventy-three days]

Before my junior sister killed that insect, she had seventy days to practice her magic.

This single insect was worth three whole days of practicing magic.

There are tens of thousands of these insects on this mountain.

In total, that's 30,000 days of cultivation time, roughly 82 years.

Including the seven or eight years of magical cultivation time that can be gained from killing other monsters in the past half month, the total should be ninety years.

A true cultivator's cultivation takes a hundred years, yet these insects, along with other demonic creatures, are worth ninety years of magical cultivation!

What level of skill must one have mastered to wield the Yin-Yang Dividing Light Sword?

At that time, even his martial uncle's Yin-Yang Dividing Light Sword should be inferior to his, right?

He will personally guide his junior sister in cultivating the Yin-Yang Dividing Light Sword, along with the White Rainbow Sword and the Wiping Edge Spiritual Essence. Wouldn't his junior sister make rapid progress?

If my junior sister can master the Yin-Yang Dividing Light Sword to 128 sword lights within three years, that would be another 112 years of cultivation.

However, before that, he still had to go to the Forging Furnace Temple to exchange the Blood Refining Pivot for a better magic weapon of the same kind before receiving the cultivation reward next time.

Moreover, besides the Black Stone artifact, the Forging Furnace Temple, being the Taoist temple most skilled in crafting artifacts within the lineage, is also the most likely place to repair the White Rainbow Sword.

but……

Li Yinsheng snapped out of his rambling thoughts and suddenly realized something else.

Cultivation level is usually measured in years, so rewards are also calculated on an annual basis, but there shouldn't be such a thing for magic, right?

Generally, cultivators measure the proficiency of a person's magic by terms such as "entry level," "minor achievement," and "major achievement," or by the amount of sword light, like the Yin-Yang Dividing Light Sword.

So, this "ninety years"...

Could it be that he'll really have to practice magic for ninety years without sleep or rest?

Li Yinsheng rubbed his temples, his feelings complicated.

"Senior brother!" Mu Xiaoyu's voice interrupted Li Yinsheng's thoughts, "Did you secretly release this bug to prank me?"

She glared angrily at Li Yinsheng.

Even though my divine sense was always surrounding me, how could such a big bug have crawled onto me?