Junior sister, I really need to control you.

Chapter 100 The Ten Thousand Mountains: Cultivation World and Mortal World

Li Yinsheng's room.

Shangguan Ling'er sat opposite Li Yinsheng, hesitant to speak.

Li Yinsheng looked at her with a strange expression.

This Miss Shangguan said she was bored and came over to chat, but after sitting down she didn't say a word and looked like she wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.

"Miss Shangguan," Li Yinsheng couldn't help but say, "Although we've only known each other for a short time, we share similar interests. If you have anything to say, please feel free to speak frankly."

After hearing Li Yinsheng speak, Shangguan Ling'er seemed to have made up her mind and spoke.

"It's nothing really, it's just that you seem a little too nice to that junior sister," she said with a hint of curiosity. "I've seen masters who dote on their disciples, or elders who dote on their juniors, but there always has to be a reason, right?"

"Most masters who dote on their disciples do so because the disciples are exceptionally talented or whose talents resonate with the master's own heritage."

"Family elders often dote on younger generations because the younger generation is outstanding, or at least has strengths in some aspects."

"To be honest, when I was in my family, I received a lot of resources from a young age, and no one of my peers could compare with me. After I came to the sect, my master also devoted himself to cultivating me."

Shangguan Ling'er gently stroked her hair and said, "But this is because I was born with extraordinary talent. Both my family and my master have been grooming me to be a future immortal."

"I am well aware of this, and I am confident that becoming an immortal is not difficult for me."

"But—what's going on with that junior sister?"

Li Yinsheng wasn't surprised and laughed, "Does Miss Shangguan mean that Xiaoyu's potential is too poor and not worth nurturing?"

"It's not that she's not worth nurturing; Xiaoyu is a good child," Shangguan Ling'er carefully chose her words, "but—after all, she lacks innate talent, and her abilities are almost certainly the worst."

"Even if you have cleansed her marrow and removed her tendons, at most she would only be considered to have a lower level of spiritual potential. In any normal Taoist temple, she would not be accepted as a disciple."

"Giving her some resources so that she can achieve something in her cultivation and learn a weapon-refining skill to make a living is perfectly normal. After all, Xiaoyu is indeed cute and deserves to be treated better."

"But you've given her too much. Many of the things she's given are things that even talented individuals with good aptitude in various Taoist temples are far from qualified to receive."

Li Yinsheng nodded slightly: "Does Miss Shangguan think that I'm spoiling Xiaoyu a bit by giving her the fire seed?"

"It's not just the spark, but also all the things you gave her—" Shangguan Ling'er looked at Li Yinsheng, hesitated for a moment, and then asked the question she was most curious about.

"You wouldn't happen to have fallen for that girl, would you? She's alright looking, but she wouldn't be considered the most beautiful in any Taoist temple, would she?"

By any standard, Mu Xiaoyu could only be described as pretty and charming, far from being a beauty that could topple kingdoms.

Shangguan Ling'er looked at Li Yinsheng suspiciously: "Or do you just like this kind of naive young girl? She hasn't even fully grown up yet."

Li Yinsheng was both amused and exasperated.

Miss Shangguan and her martial uncle are really best friends; they asked almost the same questions.

However, he didn't find it strange that Shangguan Ling'er asked this question.

Rather, to any outsider, his training of his junior sister seemed abnormally good, and given her poor talent, it would be normal to suspect that he had ulterior motives.

Can you guys please stop suspecting things in that direction?

I don't like girls who are too young and timid. I like girls with good figures. Xiaoyu is as flat as a washboard!

Moreover, she's already this age and still developed like this, so it's unlikely she'll have much potential to reach in the future.

The real reason is not for outsiders to know, but he would never allow others to slander him for being attracted to a girl who was not even sixteen years old.

His aesthetic sense is not to be defiled!

So he had no choice but to argue with Shangguan Ling'er.

"Miss Shangguan, please don't tease me," Li Yinsheng shook his head. "Do you think I'm a lecherous man?"

'

Shangguan Ling'er shook her head decisively.

"The main reason I'm training Xiaoyu is that, although she lacks talent, she has a strong resilience, and I believe she's not truly without potential."

"Miss Shangguan, do you think many people can endure the burning pain of refining the fire seed for the first time?"

"7

Shangguan Ling'er shook her head: "I'm afraid not many."

"And over the past four months, Miss Shangguan, you have witnessed her diligence in her cultivation. Tell me, how many disciples in all the Taoist temples can be as hardworking as her?"

"I'm afraid even less." Shangguan Ling'er shook her head again.

"With such a steadfast Dao heart, how can this not be considered a sign of exceptional potential?" Li Yinsheng said.

"That makes sense, but..." Shangguan Ling'er hesitated.

"Furthermore, Miss Shangguan, if you think about the matter of the black stone, I think Xiaoyu's sense of smell must be extraordinary."

"Although this is of no benefit to cultivation, it allows one to smell things that even a true master cannot smell. Can it be said that this does not count as a talent?" Li Yinsheng said again.

Shangguan Ling'er nodded hesitantly.

"Moreover, the Black Stone and the Ancient Peach Spirit Offering also prove that she is indeed blessed with good fortune. Otherwise, the mountain is not far from Xuanzhen Peak, so why has no one discovered it for hundreds of years until she entered the sect and encountered this opportunity?" Li Yinsheng said.

"That's true—it's undeniable," Shangguan Ling'er said.

"Although my junior sister comes from a mortal background, she has joined my Xuanzhen Temple, and her Daoist heart is firm. She possesses extraordinary abilities and is also blessed with good fortune," Li Yinsheng said. "It's just that her talent is a little lacking."

"If properly nurtured, they may very well achieve great things in the future."

After thinking for a moment, Shangguan Ling'er nodded and said, "That's true. Perhaps I really valued innate talent too much and neglected the role of Dao heart and opportunity."

She paused, then asked with some curiosity, "Speaking of which, you said this girl came from an ordinary background?"

"Judging from her demeanor, although she is somewhat naive and mischievous, one can see that she is quite well-mannered and cultured, and has a certain air of nobility. She is definitely not from an ordinary family. What is her background in the mortal world?"

"I remember her father called himself something like the Great Yong Dynasty, the Prince of Wuwei, and was also a general and governor of the court, and apparently the head of a large clan."

Li Yinsheng casually said, "I didn't ask for details, but with his string of titles—Prince, General, and Governor—his status is probably not low."

Since arriving in this world, the farthest he has ever gone is to the Bamboo Forest Peak of Huangzhu Temple; naturally, he has never been to any mortal dynasty.

Therefore, his understanding of the mortal world came only from occasional casual conversations with other cultivators.

Many cultivators under the Zhengyang lineage are of mortal origin, possessing innate talent, and are recruited into various Taoist temples after being discovered by them.

"A prince of the Dayong Dynasty?" Shangguan Ling'er was taken aback. "Wouldn't it be unnecessary to send my daughter to the Xuanzhen Temple?"

"Huh?" Li Yinsheng was taken aback. "What does Miss Shangguan mean by this?"

"I've heard of the Dayong Dynasty. It's located in the northwest of the Ten Thousand Mountains. It's a vast country and quite a large dynasty," Shangguan Ling'er explained. "Given the size of the Dayong Dynasty, finding a few independent cultivators wouldn't be difficult."

"Are there independent cultivators among mortals?" Li Yinsheng asked.

"You, Great Immortal, have such a broad perspective—" Shangguan Ling'er couldn't help but laugh. "Of course, there are rogue cultivators in the mortal realm, but they are rare."

"Rogue cultivators are also subject to the constraints of the surrounding orthodox sects. They cannot interfere too much with mortal affairs, nor can they show themselves in front of mortals. Any behavior such as directly ruling or even harming mortals will be directly suppressed by the major sects."

"However, if one merely enjoys offerings from mortals and keeps a low profile, one should not incur any punishment."

Shangguan Ling'er smiled and said, "Actually, every Taoist temple has some cultivators who feel hopeless about their path to immortality and are disheartened, so they go to the mortal world to spend the rest of their lives."

Li Yinsheng nodded, somewhat understanding as well.

"So it's a bit strange that Xiaoyu's family would send her to Xuanzhen Temple," Shangguan Ling'er said. "With the status and influence of a prince, it shouldn't be difficult for him to find a few independent cultivators and have his daughter cultivate with them."

"What is the cultivation level of a mortal cultivator?" Li Yinsheng asked curiously.

"Naturally, they're not much better," Shangguan Ling'er said, "but if you're looking for a rogue cultivator to become your disciple in the mortal world, there's no need to send your daughter into the Hundred Thousand Mountains."

"Perhaps it's because he looks down on rogue cultivators. With his status, he naturally knows that the difference between a rogue cultivator who mingles in the mortal world and a sect or temple in the cultivation world is enormous," Li Yinsheng said.

"Indeed, and it's truly an incredible stroke of luck for an ordinary person to have joined the Taoist temple of a great master like you," Shangguan Ling'er said with a smile.

"Given her natural talent, even if she were to find a rogue cultivator in the mortal realm to become her disciple, she would only be able to rely on offering gold and silver as tribute."

Li Yinsheng shrugged and did not answer.

To be honest, when Prince Mu first arrived, he was probably not as good as many ordinary cultivators.

Meanwhile, Mu Xiaoyu, who had just finished cultivating in her bedroom, glanced at her still slender and well-proportioned reflection in the bronze mirror and nodded in satisfaction.

You must not gain weight; you must persevere.

Otherwise, when I go home later, my parents won't recognize me.

Speaking of which, she has been on the mountain for about eight months now, and she has even become a cultivator. She doesn't know when she will have time to go back and show her parents.

And you can also let your parents try the snacks from the cultivation world, which taste much better than the ones at home!

Li Yinsheng's room.

"Speaking of which, it's actually quite rare to see a situation like the Ten Thousand Mountains and the surrounding mortal dynasties where immortals and mortals are completely separated," Shangguan Ling'er said. "In many places, the great immortal clans and immortal sects live together in a mixed environment of immortals and mortals."

"Where mortals live, they can often see the location of the immortal sect's mountain gate simply by looking up."

"Could it be that Miss Shangguan's family is not in the Hundred Thousand Mountains?" Li Yinsheng asked.

"No," Shangguan Ling'er said with a smile, "My home is in the sea."

"In the sea?" Li Yinsheng was somewhat surprised.

"Yes," she nodded, "The Taihao Immortal Sect and its lineage are on the mountain, while my home—you could say it's on an island, quite far away."

"I see. No wonder Miss Shangguan knows about things beyond the Ten Thousand Mountains," Li Yinsheng said.

"You know too little," Shangguan Ling'er said bluntly. "You don't even know much about what's happening in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, do you?"

Li Yinsheng remained silent for a few seconds. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was indeed a little less knowledgeable, probably about the same as other ordinary disciples of the Taoist temple.

Let alone anything about the entire cultivation world of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, he didn't know much about other cultivation lineages either.

"How can a dignified Grand Master appear so ignorant?" Shangguan Ling'er laughed. "Let me explain it to you, so you won't embarrass yourself in front of outsiders later."

Li Yinsheng immediately began to listen attentively.

Then Shangguan Ling'er's first words stunned him.

"Seriously speaking, these Hundred Thousand Mountains should actually be considered the territory of the demon race; we are the ones who came here."