How come I was born a deity?

the next day.

Chen Qi got up early and went to the bookstore with his keys.

Chen Qi was indeed working hard yesterday, cultivating until 2 a.m. before going to sleep, and got up at 6 a.m. this morning.

He found that after he started cultivating, his physical condition seemed to improve, and even his need for sleep decreased significantly.

It is well known that college students, and recent college graduates, are at a low point in their physical condition, but Chen Qi feels that he could run a kilometer without even breaking a sweat.

"Is this the benefit of being a spiritual practitioner?"

As Chen Qi marveled at the changes in his body, he gathered more stars and stopped at the entrance of the bookstore.

"Um?"

Chen Qi looked down and noticed something wriggling at the entrance of the bookstore.

An unidentified object, wrapped in heavy blankets, leaned against the glass door of the bookstore. As if it had heard something, it wriggled and knocked the blanket off its head.

Then a cute, sleepy little face appeared.

It was the same junior sister of Xu Yangzi that Chen Qi had seen at Shangqing Palace yesterday.

"Hmm? Is it dawn yet?"

Chen Qi pretended not to see it, took out his key, and unlocked the bookstore door.

Coming to her senses, the junior sister jumped up from the ground, stuffed all the blankets she was wearing back into her travel bag, pointed at Chen Qi and said, "Gotcha!"

Chen Qi pretended not to hear and silently walked into the bookstore. He then picked up the air conditioner remote by the door and turned on the central air conditioning.

"Hey!" The junior sister chased after him into the bookstore. "You're pretending you can't see me, aren't you!"

Chen Qi turned around helplessly, "What do you want from me? If you hate me, you don't have to chase me down the mountain, do you? Isn't the mud on the mountain fun?"

"I didn't come here to chase after you!" The junior sister sniffled, looking pitiful. "Master kicked me off the mountain and sent me to your bookstore."

Chen Qi: "?"

How come I didn't know?

"Ah, you're here," Shen Nianxu, wearing a fluffy pajama set, leaned against the railing of the duplex staircase on the second floor of the bookstore, looking at Chen Qi and her junior sister in the reading area. "You're here pretty early. I thought you'd be late."

Chen Qi paused for a moment, then said, "How come I didn't know she was coming to our bookstore?"

"Because when Master Xuanqing told me about this, you and Xuyangzi went to the library," Shen Nianxu said lazily as she came down from the second floor in her pajamas. "Master Xuanqing asked the library to look after her. How could I let go of an opportunity to make Shangqing Palace owe someone a favor? Wouldn't it be easier for Master Xuanqing to vote for you then?"

Chen Qi felt that Shen Nianxu's words made some sense. The only problem was that he, as the new owner of the bookstore, knew nothing about such a big matter.

"She doesn't want a salary, right?" Chen Qi asked in a low voice.

Shen Nianxu replied in a low voice, "What do you mean by 'paying wages'? If you pay wages, it becomes an employment relationship. Employing her would be child labor. Aren't you afraid of being arrested by the police?"

"That makes sense," Chen Qi said, immediately understanding. "Then I'm relieved."

Although the junior sister didn't know what the two were talking about, she vaguely felt that what they were saying was very impolite.

Chen Qi handed his junior sister a pack of tissues so she could wipe her nose. Being outside in the cold all night was uncomfortable even for a cultivator. "What's your name? What level of cultivator are you?"

The junior sister blew her nose, crumpled up a tissue and stuffed it into Chen Qi's pocket, and replied in a hoarse voice, "My name is Hu Yao. My master told me... I'm roughly at the level of a third-tier cultivator."

Third-tier cultivator?

Chen Qi's face darkened.

Although he didn't know what level of cultivator Shen Nianxu was, the fact that she could frighten that old bald man He Yan and his bodyguards meant she was clearly no pushover.

And this Hu Yao is a third-level cultivator, so does that mean he's the worst person in the whole bookstore, the one who's the owner?

"Something's not right," Chen Qi sensed something was amiss, "What do you mean by 'equivalent to a third-tier cultivator'?"

Before Hu Yao could answer, Shen Nianxu came over with a cup of Wangzai Cowboy instant noodles that had been warmed with hot water and explained, "Because Hu Yao is not a cultivator."

Hu Yao's eyes lit up as she took the warm milk from Shen Nianxu. She thanked her and then took a small sip.

"She's not a cultivator?"

Shen Nianxu nodded, "Yes, didn't I tell you this when we first met? There are demons and monsters in this world, and Hu Yao is one of them. She was a young demon that Master Xuanqing found in the back mountain of Qingcheng."

"Although she has taken human form now, she is still not human, so we can only estimate her strength according to the stages of a cultivator."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qi asked directly, "So she's actually an orphan?"

Hu Yao was so angry that she almost spat out the Want Want milk in her mouth.

Shen Nianxu was rendered silent by his blunt words. "If that's what you want to say... fine, but could you be a little more tactful?"

"Excuse me," Chen Qi corrected his wording, "So she's a subtle kind of orphan?"

Hu Yao kicked him hard.

"I won't talk to you about these trivial things," Shen Nianxu waved her hand. "Although I promised Master Xuanqing that I would take care of her, the problem is... we don't have a place for her to stay here."

Chen Qi glanced at the several empty corners of the bookstore and asked, "Isn't she a monster? Wouldn't it have been easier to just prepare a cat bed and put it in a corner?"

Hu Yao: "..."

Shen Nianxu: "...Are you even human?"

Chen Qi fell silent. To ease the awkwardness, he could only point to the second floor of the bookstore and ask, "What about the second floor? I think you live up there too."

"There's only one room on the second floor," Shen Nianxu explained. "It was originally for the previous owner, but I moved in after he died."

"I tried to make room last night, but it's still hard to fit two people."

Chen Qi: "That is indeed a bit difficult..."

Hu Yao listened and subconsciously shrank his neck.

She has already been kicked off the mountain by Master Xuanqing. If even the bookstore doesn't want her anymore, won't she become a homeless child?

The thought of possibly living under a bridge, having to beg for a living, and possibly being captured and sold made tears well up in Hu Yao's eyes.

"Please...please prepare a cat bed for me, I'll sleep in it...please don't abandon me..."

Chen Qi: "..."

Shen Nianxu: "..."

No, why does it sound like we're some kind of mean-spirited adoptive parents?

"Oh right," Chen Qi suddenly remembered something, "I have a solution."

As he spoke, he climbed the stairs to the door of Shen Nianxu's bedroom on the second floor, then raised his right hand and pressed it against the door.

Shen Nianxu and Hu Yao had no idea what he was doing.

Soon, Chen Qi's face turned slightly pale, and his spiritual energy was greatly depleted. Even hundreds of stars could not withstand such a large amount of his use.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Chen Qi lowered his hand and said to the two of them, "Alright, now try opening the door. The problem is solved."

What do you mean?

Shen Nianxu and Hu Yao reached out with some skepticism and pushed open the bedroom door in front of them.

Soon, a long corridor appeared in front of the two of them. On both sides of the corridor were several separate rooms, which looked like an inn, even the floors were made of wood.

The space inside far exceeds the size of a room that should be on the second floor, even giving people a sense of visual dislocation.

But soon, Shen Nianxu and Hu Yao realized what was going on.

Shen Nianxu exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't this the Taoist's proud Cave Heaven Technique? You went to Shangqing Palace and stole their sound transmission and intimidation techniques, and that's one thing, but why did you also expose their underwear?!"

Hu Yao stammered, "...If Master finds out about this, he'll probably kill you..."

Chen Qi: "..."

If I said I found it, do you think Master Xuanqing would believe me?

"Wait a minute..." Shen Nianxu suddenly realized something, abruptly pulled Chen Qi aside, and asked in a low voice, "So you can steal any move just by glancing at it?"

"What constitutes stealing?" Chen Qi argued. "How can something done by a scholar be called stealing?"

Shen Nianxu tugged at his sleeve, "Sigh, anyway, you know what it means. You just need to answer yes or no."

Chen Qi thought for a moment and replied, "Probably. I haven't encountered anything I can't learn yet, except for advanced mathematics."

"very good."

Shen Nianxu suddenly revealed a very wicked smile.

"Then I'll have to take you somewhere..."