Chapter 2: So the Reward Is Cultivating on My Own?!

Inside the Third Layer of the Scripture Pavilion at Xuanzhen Temple.

Half an hour ago, Prince Mu and his entourage had already left. Mu Xiaoyu was arranged to stay in a fairly intact bedroom within the Daoist Temple. Before leaving, Li Yinsheng had also left her two sets of Daoist Robes to wear in the temple. At this moment, he was in the Third Layer of the Scripture Pavilion, walking toward a bookshelf in the deepest part.

He could teach that Junior Sister Mu a Cultivation Technique at any time. As the only person with Cultivation in the Daoist Temple, the rule that new disciples had to copy scriptures for two or three years as a test was essentially waste paper to him; he did not have to follow it at all. Although copying scriptures was primarily to ensure disciples could study the texts and comprehend the Alchemy Dao vocabulary and Talismanic Seal Script within the Cultivation Technique, still...

Coincidentally, the Cultivation Technique he practiced was balanced and peaceful, placing great emphasis on a solid foundation and gradual progress. The First Layer was extremely simple—so simple that it could be practiced without any foundational knowledge of the scriptures at all. It only contained a Fist Technique consisting of twenty-seven movements, used to strengthen Primordial Energy, temper the Flesh Body, and lay a firm foundation for future practice. Therefore, as long as someone taught it step by step, let alone someone who hadn't studied the scriptures mastering the First Layer, even an illiterate person could learn it!

Of course, this Cultivation Technique was easy to learn but hard to master. It took him only two days to learn it, but cultivating from the First Layer to the Second Layer took him a full year and a half, and that was even with the assistance of medicine that nourished his Primordial Energy. However, he also took advantage of those days of tempering his foundation to make up for his lacking knowledge of the scriptures. During that time, after finishing his practice, he would read during his breaks, not wasting a single moment.

Walking up to the bookshelf, Li Yinsheng pulled out a dark cyan book. The seal script on it was full of ancient charm, but the pages were as smooth and flat as new. The cover bore only four cloud-seal characters—the Qingxuan Scripture.

When he first started as a Beginner, Xuanzhen Temple's Town Guardian Technique, the Profound Truth Treasure Radiance Heart Seal True Explanation, had already been lost. The Qingxuan Scripture was already at the very top tier of the existing Cultivation Techniques. He retrieved the Cultivation Technique to show Mu Xiaoyu the Fist Technique diagrams within. This technique reached up to the Twelfth Layer, and he had long since memorized it word for word.

However, despite his bitter cultivation to this day, he had only reached the Fifth Layer. If he could reach the Tenth Layer, it would be enough for him to serve as the Temple Master.

Outside the fasting room at Xuanzhen Temple.

Mu Xiaoyu had already changed out of the magnificent clothes she wore when she arrived, taken off the Feathered Phoenix Jade Pendant at her waist, and changed into a plain Daoist Robe just like Li Yinsheng's. At this moment, she was sneakily opening the door to the fasting room. Then, hunched over with a guilty conscience like a thief, she slipped into the dining hall and began rummaging through the pots and cabinets like a giant rat.

On the way up the mountain, she had already eaten quite a few snacks in her family's sedan chair, but unfortunately, she had always gotten hungry quickly ever since she was a child. Therefore, she was starving again now. Moreover, her father and mother hadn't allowed her to secretly stash snacks in her luggage. Before leaving, they had confiscated all the candied fruits, dried meats, and sugar cakes she had stealthily tucked away! It left her starving in her bedroom with absolutely nothing to eat!

After lying on her bed for a long time, rubbing her stomach as it went GRUMBLE, Mu Xiaoyu finally decided to take a risk. She sneaked out of her bedroom, ignored the ruined walls and rubble, and tiptoed her way to this fasting room. Before she came, her father had told her that the Daoist Temples where Immortals cultivated in peace mostly had strict precepts. She couldn't be willful or reckless, or else she would easily be punished. But she was simply too hungry.

Mu Xiaoyu squatted on the ground, lifted the lid off a large porcelain basin, and picked up a white steamed bun from inside. Taking a massive bite, she looked entirely satisfied while also feeling a bit smug.

"Hehe... These buildings all look pretty much the same. Fortunately, I could smell a hint of firewood at the entrance of this one, which is how I recognized it as the fasting room. I'm amazing! MMPH... MMPH!"

Mu Xiaoyu's expression suddenly changed. She reached out and pounded hard on her chest, her delicate little face flushed completely red.

"Choking, aren't you? Here, have some water." A gourd ladle filled with clear water was handed over from Mu Xiaoyu's left side.

Mu Xiaoyu hurriedly grabbed the ladle in front of her and threw her head back to drink deeply. After a long time, she finally set the ladle down and let out a long breath. Panting, she subconsciously looked in the direction the ladle had come from. "Thank you..."

The rest of her words were caught in her throat. Mu Xiaoyu's breath hitched, and her face turned deathly pale. Before her eyes was a face with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, yet it was completely devoid of expression. It was clearly a very handsome face, but at this moment, in her eyes, it was even more terrifying than a yaksha or an evil spirit.

"Senior... Senior Brother?" Mu Xiaoyu gripped the steamed bun tightly with both hands, revealing a smile that was uglier than crying.

She wasn't sure if sneaking out of her bedroom was considered breaking the precepts in the temple, but slipping into the fasting room to steal food definitely was. Even in her own home, servants who entered the kitchen to steal food would be whipped, let alone here in the temple! Mu Xiaoyu shivered in fear.

"Junior Sister is indeed sensitive to smells. Having such a sense of smell without ever practicing Cultivation can be considered a remarkable natural talent. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite count as a Root Device," Li Yinsheng said, nodding, his tone devoid of any fluctuation. "Did Junior Sister know that as long as Cultivators do not become Daoists, they are ultimately just Flesh Bodies of mortal origins, so they still need to eat? It is merely a difference of how much they eat. And among the precepts of Xuanzhen Temple, there is one called 'no eating out of hours.' It means meals can only be taken at specific hours. Outside of those hours, one does not eat."

At this point, a faint smile finally appeared on Li Yinsheng's face. "Therefore, disciples in the temple who sneak into the fasting room to steal food outside of dining hours must be punished."

"Punished..." Mu Xiaoyu began to tremble.

"According to the sect rules, those who enter the fasting room out of hours to steal food shall receive fifty strikes to the palms with a cane. First-time offenders can have the penalty reduced by ten, so you only need to receive forty strikes." Li Yinsheng stood up. His tall figure blocked the sunlight, casting a massive shadow that completely enveloped the trembling Mu Xiaoyu. "Junior Sister, among the luggage you brought, do you have any ointment for relieving pain and reducing bruises?"