Lu Chongyun’s voice floated in and out of Lu Yaoyao’s ears, sometimes distant and sometimes close, until she suddenly jolted awake, “Is it over?” She blinked her confused eyes, looking around.
Lu Junyang said with a smile, “It’s over. Let me take you back.” He bent down to pick her up, but Lu Yaoyao quickly refused, “I’ve grown up!”
Seeing the girl was already quite alert despite still looking a bit sleepy, Lu Junyang didn’t insist. At that moment, Lu Yaoyao’s second senior brother, Mo Ziwen, arrived to pick her up. Lu Chongyun had also sent a disciple to call Lu Junyang, so he reluctantly handed over Lu Yaoyao to Mo Ziwen.
“Yaoyao, see you in two days.” They still had a lot of loot to divide!
Lu Yaoyao beamed, “See you in two days!”
The disciples in the square dispersed, and Lu Yaoyao followed Mo Ziwen back to the South Fifth Peak. The two chatted along the way, very lively. Upon returning, Lu Yaoyao immediately went to greet her master and then visited her senior brothers, distributing the gifts she had obtained from the secret realm.
Seeing Lu Yaoyao’s bounty, everyone was stunned. They had never seen anyone come back with so much from a single trip to the Suhui Secret Realm. Of course, what each individual obtained was considered a private matter, and others had no way of knowing. However, until they reached the cut-off age, Lu Yaoyao’s four senior brothers had always occupied the spot whenever the secret realm opened, so they had a general idea of the amount of harvest one could possibly gain on a single visit.
To put it bluntly, their combined harvests over a hundred years didn’t match Lu Yaoyao’s single trip. Furthermore, many items Lu Yaoyao brought out were unfamiliar to her; some she had heard of but couldn’t identify. However, anything stored in the secret realm was undoubtedly valuable.
What was surprising was that even Hall Master Mo didn’t know the origin of the sword Lu Yaoyao had acquired. Although disappointed, Lu Yaoyao still had her Father and Daddy to ask. Their lifespans were nearly double that of her master, so they surely knew more. In fact, her curiosity actually grew with anticipation—such a good sword must have an amazing story!
Lu Yaoyao didn’t stay long. Having gone five days without sleep in the secret realm, her exhaustion had reached its peak, and she soon returned to her pavilion and headed to her room for a long, deep sleep.
Lu Yaoyao slept until the next morning. Upon waking up, she felt completely refreshed after a good night’s sleep, her energy fully restored. She took her soft sword from beside her bed and practiced outside for a while before going to find her friends.
“I’m back!” Lu Yaoyao ran over eagerly. Wen Zixing and the others greeted her enthusiastically, curious about her experience in the secret realm.
Lu Yaoyao started to narrate her story. Her witty remarks and thrilling storytelling made her five-day experience sound like an exciting adventure. Even though she hadn’t encountered anything dangerous, she was able to add twists and turns to her story, eliciting excited gasps from her audience. At the end of her story, she presented her pile of harvest once again, which didn’t seem to diminish even after sharing with her master and senior brothers. “Take your pick,” she said generously.
Wen Zixing and the others initially felt a bit guilty about accepting Lu Yaoyao’s gifts without giving anything in return. However, they quickly realized that their close friendship made such formality unnecessary. They weren’t merely taking advantage of Lu Yaoyao—whenever any of them had something valuable, they generously shared it with the group. With that understanding, each of them happily chose an item and then turned their attention to admire Lu Yaoyao’s new weapon.
Lu Yaoyao was so excited about her new sword that she couldn’t bear to put it in her small pouch. Unfortunately, the sword was slightly too long for her small body. Since carrying it felt awkward, she ended up wrapping the soft, whip-like blade around her waist.
When Chao Muxue saw the sword, a strange sense of familiarity suddenly arose in her heart—for some reason, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had seen it somewhere before.
When Lu Yaoyao heard this, she eagerly asked, “Do you know the origin of this sword?”
Chao Muxue frowned and pondered seriously for a moment, then shook her head, “I don’t know.” She was certain she didn’t recognize the sword and had never seen it before, but the sense of familiarity, which seemingly came out of nowhere, kept bothering her. Adjusting her mood, she smiled and offered a sincere compliment, “This sword suits you very well.”
“I think so too!” Lu Yaoyao had a hunch that this would be her natal sword from now on.
Afterward, the group began discussing their plan for the upcoming field training. This year’s entrance trial for new disciples was still three to four months away. A mission would soon be posted at the mission hall, recruiting disciples to help with the new disciples’ recruitment and subsequent entrance trial. The reward offered was quite generous, so it was a popular mission. Lu Yaoyao and her friends were interested in this mission, and they also wanted to watch the trial.
After this entrance trial, they wouldn’t be considered new disciples anymore!
Even if they couldn’t make it back in time, it wouldn’t matter, as recruitment happened every three years and they could always wait for the next one. The real issue was the new rule implemented after the incident at the Cold Mountain Forest. Following their close call with the devils, the upper echelons of Guiyuan were reluctant to let inexperienced disciples travel far. Two disciples had nearly lost their lives just outside the sect’s territory, so they were understandably cautious.
Now, the rule required disciples to go out in teams, not alone, and their combined strength must be above the Foundation Establishment stage. If disciples in the Qi Condensation stage wanted to venture out of the sect, they had to be accompanied by at least two Inedia or higher cultivators to ensure safety. Under this new rule, Lu Yaoyao’s team would surely be denied permission to go; only Lu Yaoyao had some combat ability, while the others were still quite fragile.
If they encountered danger again, no amount of defensive artifacts or talismans would be enough. Therefore, if junior disciples wanted to go out for training, they needed to team up with seniors with more advanced cultivators. Lu Yaoyao had considered asking Lu Junyang for a favor, but he was busy assisting with sect affairs and preparing for the entrance trial, so he couldn’t join them.
Lu Yaoyao’s next choices were her own senior brothers. Eldest Senior Brother was a shut-in, so asking him to join them was out of the question. Her second senior brother was busy managing affairs at the South Fifth Peak and assisting Brother Junyang at the main peak. Third Senior Brother was frequently in confinement, and Fourth Senior Brother was always chasing after women, making both of them unreliable. Du Qianshan’s senior brothers or sisters had sufficient strength, but since their group wasn’t well acquainted with the folks from the North Twelfth Peak, Lu Yaoyao wasn’t sure if anyone there would be willing to team up with novices like them.
“Why don’t we go to the mission hall and post a mission?” Out of options, Lu Yaoyao suggested—hiring an Inedia stage senior disciple shouldn’t be too difficult.
“What task?” Yan Zihui, who appeared out of nowhere, asked curiously.
“Whoa!” The sudden voice startled Wen Zixing.
< Previous | TOC | Advanced TOC | Next >
Translator’s Note:
Hello, everyone! As I explained before, The Healer Demands Payment! is going to enter hiatus. After looking around for replacement and asking for suggestion, most of you suggest I take over abandoned titles, and it just happens that one of my favorite title has been abandoned for a few years now, so I feel comfortable taking it over. Here it is: Wake Up Male Lead, You Belong With The Female Lead!. What I love from this author’s novels are always the dynamics between the main couple and the twist incorporated into the seemingly typical cultivation world settings. Hope you can enjoy it as much as I did!
For this week only, there will be daily updates (5 updates), and then it will follow THDP’s update schedule: Tuesday and Thursday.
Enjoy~
Wants more chapters?
Click this page for the status of sponsored chapters.
Click this page for advanced chapters TOC.