Junior sister, I really need to control you.

Late at night, on Bamboo Forest Peak, in the sleeping quarters of the patrolling disciples.

Mu Xiaoyu lay on her bed.

The female nun from Huangzhu Temple who had previously arranged a bedroom for her seemed to be taking good care of her, as she was specially assigned to this bedroom where only four people lived.

Tonight, after her senior brought her back, Mu Xiaoyu pushed open the door and was immediately surrounded by her three roommates, including Wu Mingke.

Although not much time had passed between the time the direct disciple of Shouyi Temple caused trouble and the time her senior brother brought her back from the Shouyi Temple's residence.

However, the commotion was quite significant, and with many onlookers, the news spread widely within a short period of time.

At least half of the patrolling disciples in the rest area knew about it.

By tomorrow, it will probably have spread completely.

Of course, all they knew was the public incident of "a disciple of Shouyi Temple bullying a female cultivator from a small Taoist temple, and being punished by the senior brother from the other temple."

As for the fact that almost everyone in Shouyiguan was wiped out and all of them were sent to the disciples of Huichuntang in Huangzhuguan for treatment, it is now only circulating among the disciples of Huangzhuguan in a small circle.

Furthermore, the disciples of Huangzhu Temple were also ordered by Vice Abbot Liang not to spread the news outside, so as not to escalate the matter further and affect his subsequent negotiations with Shouyi Temple.

Therefore, the rumors that the three roommates heard only went as far as Li Yinsheng publicly captured the Shouyi Temple disciple and left with Mu Xiaoyu.

So when the three of them saw Mu Xiaoyu return, they immediately surrounded her and bombarded her with questions.

Aside from Wu Mingke, who was clearly worried about whether Mu Xiaoyu was injured, the other two, while also expressing concern, were more obviously curious.

After all, they had only known each other for a day and didn't have any real relationship, so there was no question of them caring about each other.

Compared to whether Mu Xiaoyu was really bullied or wronged, they were more concerned about the rumor that "a handsome and highly skilled senior brother saved his junior sister who was being bullied by outsiders."

This kind of "hero saves the beauty" story, which seems straight out of a folk tale, is what attracts them.

Even when one of them pressed Mu Xiaoyu for answers, a hint of jealousy inadvertently flashed across his face—

This female cultivator isn't particularly pretty, and her cultivation level is just average. Why does she have a handsome and powerful senior brother protecting her? Is it just because she's lucky?

Mu Xiaoyu was born into a royal family. Although she was pampered from a young age, she was also influenced by her surroundings and learned to read people's expressions over the years.

She could tell whether the two female cultivators who had been practicing in the temple since childhood were sincere or not.

Therefore, she didn't boast about things like "My senior brother dotes on me so much, he took me to take revenge" or anything that might attract more jealousy.

It's just that the person guarding the temple looked down on her and her senior brother's temple because it was small and ranked low, so he deliberately bullied them.

Her senior brother naturally couldn't stand by and watch the Taoist temple be looked down upon, so he took her to Shouyi Temple to reason with them. With the help of the deputy abbot and deacons of Huangzhu Temple, they managed to reconcile the situation and finally regain their dignity.

She glossed over the more detailed aspects as much as possible.

Even when Wu Mingke pressed her for details, she didn't give a proper answer.

Since they'll be patrolling together tomorrow anyway, it's better for her to discuss some things privately with this Sister Wu.

She didn't know her other two roommates very well, so she didn't want to have any deep conversations with them.

Although they were somewhat dissatisfied with Mu Xiaoyu's vague answers, the two of them didn't want to keep pressing her for answers and appear aggressive.

Moreover, none of the four of them had deep cultivation, and they had all been patrolling all day. As night deepened, they all became tired and went to sleep.

In her half-awake state, Mu Xiaoyu heard Wu Mingke's voice.

"Little Fish? Are you asleep?"

"I almost fell asleep..." Mu Xiaoyu muttered.

"Your senior brother treats you so well," Wu Mingke exclaimed. "He was willing to clash with the people at Shouyi Temple to stand up for you. None of my senior brothers in the temple would ever treat me like that."

"Hehe," Mu Xiaoyu said happily when she heard Wu Mingke praise her senior brother, "Senior brother is indeed a very good person, just a bit too strict..."

"He's not just a good person, is he?" Wu Mingke said softly, her tone complicated. "He definitely likes you a lot."

"Hehe, of course!" Mu Xiaoyu was even happier, and couldn't help but roll over in bed. "Senior brother must really like me!"

"Sigh, little girl." Wu Mingke sighed softly.

"Sister Wu, why are you suddenly calling me 'little girl'?" Mu Xiaoyu asked, somewhat displeased.

"It's nothing, go to sleep." Wu Mingke sighed again.

Mu Xiaoyu wanted to ask more, but drowsiness overcame her. Thinking that she had to get up early to patrol the next day, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

……

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

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

"Junior brother, 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 allowed the members of Shouyi Temple to reap the rewards 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 say the extra money spent on talismans went to feeding the dogs.

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, right? Me too, but this is what Fellow Daoist Zhao from 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 finally sure that he wasn't joking."

"He said it might be too late for this morning's patrol, but he'll try his best to organize the disciples 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 won't heal by tomorrow, will 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 do some work!" 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. "It wasn't a low-grade magic sword, was it?"

"Yes," Mu Xiaoyu nodded, "This was the one my senior brother used before. After his cultivation level improved, he got a better one, and he 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 had spent all her money, she could still barely afford a low-grade magic artifact. However, cultivation involves spending money everywhere, and no matter how important a 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.

She paused, then 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've never done any work or earned money with talismans?

Despite her doubts, Wu Mingke still answered.

"You'll see if you compare it. Our patrol for Huangzhu Temple this time 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. She pondered his words, and the more she thought about it, the more something seemed amiss: "You're only finding out about our payment now?"

"Mm!" Mu Xiaoyu nodded.

"Then why did you come?" 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 hone my combat experience and earn some talisman money along the way. It doesn't matter how much I earn, the important thing is to hone my skills," 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, clutching her head. Although she couldn't see who had knocked on her, she immediately recognized the familiar force and feeling: "Senior Brother!"

"They dare to chat and laugh while on patrol, completely without vigilance," Li Yinsheng said, standing behind Mu Xiaoyu. "If they encounter a monster skilled in stealth and ambushes, they'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, puffing out her cheeks as she 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 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.

"Waaaaahh ...

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 keep up with the magic for ninety years straight 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 an insect, especially such a big one, crawl onto my body?

Ever since being tricked by Li Yinsheng with the Black Scale Python, Mu Xiaoyu has found it hard to trust Li Yinsheng in this regard.

Building trust takes a very long time, but destroying it only takes a moment.

"Hmm..." Li Yinsheng's gaze fell on Mu Xiaoyu. He didn't answer her question, but stared at her and suddenly raised an eyebrow.

"Junior sister, it seems you've reached the fourth level of the Qingxuan True Scripture. Congratulations!"

After cultivating and refining the peaches for some time, my junior sister's cultivation had already reached the bottleneck of the third level. But when she was startled by the insect, her blood and magic power surged together, and she reached the fourth level in one fell swoop.

"Really?!"

Mu Xiaoyu's eyes lit up. Forget about questioning her senior brother, she closed her eyes to carefully sense the sensation, and then opened her eyes with a look of surprise.

"It's really the fourth level! Yay! I don't need to wear the Qi Refining Lock anymore!"

"Yes, the Qi Refining Lock is no longer useful to Junior Sister, so she doesn't need to wear it anymore," Li Yinsheng nodded.

Mu Xiaoyu was overjoyed.

Li Yinsheng nodded slightly, looking pleased.

It's just the right time for the Blood Refining Pivot to step down.

He had previously considered giving it to his junior sister, but the Blood Refining Pivot was extremely mentally taxing and would only slow down normal cultivation. It would be better to use rare and precious materials to assist his junior sister in refining her body, so he quietly abandoned this idea.

But now...

Thinking of the giant fleshy worm underground, whose energy was pure but extremely difficult to refine, Li Yinsheng had a new idea.

This Blood Refining Pivot might just come in handy.