“Chen Er?”
Out of the corner of her eye, the young man walking toward her in the outer disciple robes of the Yuxu Sect was none other than Chen Er.
Chen Er also spotted Shi Yu coming out of Tongyi Pavilion. He was taken aback for a moment before his face lit up with delight, and he quickly walked over to her. “Young Master Shi!”
He let out an honest laugh. “I’ve been to the market several times, hoping to take advantage of my trips down the mountain to look for you, Young Master. But this market is so vast that I could never find you. I didn’t expect to run into you today by pure chance!”
Ever since they separated on the day they arrived in the Origin Realm and Shi Yu headed to the market alone, the two of them had lost contact.
Chen Er hadn't known whether she had found a place to settle down afterward, and he had been deeply worried. Whenever he had an opportunity to leave the sect, he would wander around the market, hoping to bump into her.
Today was truly a stroke of luck—before he even had a chance to start searching, he ran right into her outside Tongyi Pavilion.
Hearing Chen Er say he had been to the market several times, Shi Yu's brow creased slightly.
It had only been half a month since they arrived from the mortal world to the Origin Realm. Logically speaking, Chen Er should have been staying in the sect, focusing on his cultivation. Why was he running to the market all the time?
The Yuxu Sect was a full day's journey on foot from the market, meaning a round trip took two whole days. Chen Er had only just joined the sect and hadn't had time to learn any travel techniques, so wasn't he wasting all his time on the road?
Shi Yu looked him over, noticing the sweat dripping from his forehead, and asked, “What are you doing here in the market?”
Wiping away his sweat, Chen Er smiled and said, “My senior sister instructed me to buy materials for crafting spirit talismans.”
With that, he pulled out a slip of paper covered with a list of materials. “Young Master, I’ll go inside and buy them first. It’ll only take a moment. Please wait for me!”
With a quick glance, Shi Yu saw that the items listed on the paper were all spiritual materials used to craft Tier-1 spirit talismans.
Seeing Chen Er hurriedly walk inside and hand the slip to a young shop assistant, she heard him nervously instruct, “Just prepare everything according to this list for me.”
Still uneasy, he cleared his throat and added, “These are the items requested by Senior Sister Lu of Lingle Peak in the Yuxu Sect. Don't try to fool me thinking I can't tell good quality from bad and give me inferior goods!”
Senior Sister Lu of Lingle Peak in the Yuxu Sect?
Shi Yu pondered. She recalled Lu Yujiao, whom she had briefly met at Duize Tower earlier.
The materials Chen Er was buying were all used for crafting Tier-1 spirit talismans. If she wasn't mistaken, the “Senior Sister Lu” Chen Er mentioned was likely Lu Yujiao.
“Look at what you're saying,” the clerk took the slip of paper and smiled. “We at Tongyi Pavilion value integrity in our business. We wouldn't dare trick you.”
The clerk was quick and nimble, quickly gathering all the items. After paying with spirit stones, Chen Er picked up the package, came out, and walked over to Shi Yu's side.
“Young Master Shi, it’s been a while. Let’s find a place to drink some tea!” Saying this, Chen Er patted his waist pouch. “My treat, so please don't decline, Young Master. After joining the sect, I get a monthly allowance—several hundred taels of silver!”
Shi Yu also wanted to know about Chen Er's recent situation. Hearing his words, she smiled and didn't turn down his goodwill, choosing a reasonably priced teahouse.
After they sat down, before Shi Yu even had a chance to ask, Chen Er acted like someone who had finally found a confidant, opening the floodgates and babbling endlessly about his recent situation.
As it turned out, after Chen Er joined the Yuxu Sect, he became an outer disciple and was assigned to Lingle Peak to cultivate.
Hierarchy among sect disciples was strict. Handyman disciples of the lowest rank had to perform many daily chores, such as sweeping, cooking, or tending to spirit plants and spirit beasts. Only after completing these mundane duties could they spend their remaining time cultivating.
Outer disciples were better off; they didn't have to do these chores and generally only needed to focus on their cultivation. If they had extra resource needs, they could go to the Merit Pavilion to accept tasks and earn contribution points to exchange for resources, though this was not mandatory.
Chen Er had only received basic cultivation techniques. Having attended a few lectures by the outer elders, his understanding of cultivation was still hazy and half-baked, having only set half a foot across the threshold of cultivation.
He had originally planned to settle down and cultivate in peace, but...
Although outer disciples didn't have to do heavy or menial labor like handyman disciples, if inner senior brothers or sisters gave them orders, they couldn't refuse.
Chen Er had been assigned to Lingle Peak. When Lu Yujiao, the daughter of Lingle Peak's Peak Master, heard that he had been an inn waiter in the mortal world, she offhandedly remarked, “Since you were a waiter, your legs must be nimble. From now on, you'll go down the mountain to buy things for me.”
One was a newly admitted outer disciple, while the other was the daughter of the Peak Master. Given the vast difference in status and standing, Chen Er didn't dare refuse and had no choice but to agree.
He thought it would just be running errands occasionally, but he hadn't expected Lu Yujiao to be learning talisman crafting every day. The consumables used in her practice were substantial, and spiritual materials like spirit beast blood couldn't be stored long-term, requiring Chen Er to go down the mountain every two or three days to make purchases.
A single round trip took two whole days.
As a result, up until now, Chen Er had very little time he could actually spend on cultivation.
When Shi Yu heard his story, her eyebrows knitted together, and her impression of Lu Yujiao plummeted. “Her actions are truly a bit much.”
He gave a couple of bitter laughs. “I might be called an outer disciple, but in the eyes of inner disciples, people like us are no different from handyman disciples—we're all just tools to be ordered around. Besides, she's the Peak Master's daughter...”
Not wanting to dwell on these unpleasant matters, Chen Er changed the subject. “Young Master, do you remember those two young masters who came with us from Guangle Village?”
Shi Yu nodded. “Jiang Hong and Li Xu. I remember one has a Low-grade Three-fraction Spiritual Meridian, and the other has a Low-grade Four-fraction Spiritual Meridian. Both are handyman disciples.”
Pausing briefly, Shi Yu reminded him, “Now that you've joined the sect, don't keep calling them 'Young Master'.”
Chen Er's status was now higher than theirs; addressing them like that would inevitably make him a laughingstock.
“Right, right... junior brothers,” Chen Er scratched his head, feeling quite unaccustomed to the term. “Those two junior brothers have suffered a lot. Whenever I had free time, I rushed over, hoping to offer some care and assistance. But every time they see me, they always cry and wail, begging me to find a way to send them back home.”
When Jiang Hong and Li Xu were in the mortal world, they were young masters of wealthy families accustomed to fine food and silk. Arriving in the Origin Realm without family support and possessing poor cultivation talent, they became handyman disciples forced to do all kinds of filthy, exhausting labor every day. It was completely different from the immortal life of eating wind and drinking dew they had imagined. Faced with such a disparity, they were filled with regret.
“But what can I do?” Chen Er sighed. “The Immortal Destiny Gathering only happens once every fifty years. I'm afraid only when that time comes will there be a slender chance to return.”
Shi Yu took a sip of tea and glanced at him. “Why do you worry so much about others?”
Back when the four of them were selected at the Immortal Destiny Gathering, Chen Er had tried to converse with everyone, but Jiang Hong and Li Xu had given him the cold shoulder, considering their status a world apart from his and looking down on Chen Er, a mere inn waiter.
Yet after arriving in the Origin Realm, with their positions reversed, Chen Er could still harbor no grudges and look out for them in every way.
Being kind-hearted was a good thing, but being too kind-hearted... was bound to invite trouble. Shi Yu intended to offer a few words of advice, but such truths usually had to be experienced firsthand to be truly understood; otherwise, it would just sound like preaching.
Chen Er replied, “We all came from the mortal world together, so we're fellow villagers. Naturally, we should look out for one another.”
With that, he glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention, then quickly pulled a small cloth pouch from his bosom and stuffed it into Shi Yu's hand. “Young Master, take this. I've been carrying it with me every day, just waiting for the day I met you so I could give it to you.”
Shi Yu opened it and was stunned.
Inside was a good amount of silver, along with a single low-grade Dew-Condensing Pill.
Rate on N.U.
