Chapter 26

  To Be a Master (V)

  "Khm, he he, I--I was merely joking, Elder Qin," I quickly said. "Any amount of time would be blessed."

  "Hmm," his eyes darted toward Long Tao and then Dai Xiu, a peculiar glint in them; hm? What's this old geezer planning? Why do I have a bad feeling? "Bet sounds interesting, but I want to make some... alterations to it."

  "What?"

  "Your two disciples need to finish 1st and 2nd," Elder Qin said.

  "E-eh?"

  "I will ensure they are on opposing sides of the bracket, do not worry," he said as though he thought that was my issue with it. "If the two of them do reach 1st and 2nd place, let's see... yes, I will arrange for both of them to cultivate in Antechamber for 10 seconds. Furthermore, I will divert 40% of the Spiritual River's Qi from my cultivation site to your peak. I will also be responsible for arranging all future breakthrough pills for both of them, and should you ever attempt to better yourself, I will be your Dharma Protector for a period of six months."

  Hm.

  Hmmmmm.

  Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

  Okay, this old bastard really was a bastard! Look at that faint smile, that glint in his eyes--he knows I can't say no! What he was offering was akin to someone handing me over a Fortune 500 company back on Earth!

  Tsk, weren't you 'Just'? Was the system just a bunch of nonsense?! First, it was Long Tao with his 'apathy' and 'arrogance', and now this dude with 'just'. None of those things were true!

  "What say you, Elder Lu?" Elder Qin asked, taking a sip of tea, his voice full of confidence that I'd accept. I want to say no so badly just to see his reaction... but I can't.

  "I... accept..." I squeezed words through gritted teeth, glaring at him.

  "In case you fail, let's see... yes. If your disciples don't place 1st and 2nd, you will start working directly under me for the span of 60 years."

  "... it's a deal," I said, taking a deep breath. It was all good.

  Long Tao wasn't my worry--that kid was already at the fifth, nope, he was actually at the sixth stage of Qi Condensation. He will give me a heart attack at some point, I guarantee it.

  My worry is Dai Xiu--not so much for her talent, as it far outstripped everyone else in the previous batch, but unlike Long Tao, she was a kid. Hm? But wait--

  "Elder Qin, Dai Xiu was not part of the latest batch."

  "That's alright."

  "... aren't you just and impartial?"

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "Of course."

  "And you're going to bend the rules to let her in?"

  "There is no need to bend the rules," Elder Qin said with a faint smile. "The young girl had never participated in the competition before, and once her issues are resolved, she will start anew on her path of cultivation, just like the rest."

  "Hm. Rather verbose."

  "It is time I left, Elder Lu," He stood up, unshaken. Tsk. It looks like this wasn't one of those worlds where old geezers had temperaments of tantrum-throwing 13-year-olds. "I look forward to your achievements."

  "Yeah. Me too."

  Okay, so, let's revisit--

  Dai Xiu is my worry. Though she will likely have her talent re-evaluated to 'Sky' once her poison is resolved, I don't actually have an appropriate cultivation method for her. Now, I could ask Long Tao for one... but I don't dare. It's one thing if there's an unspoken understanding between us, but if I expose it, he will kill me, undoubtedly.

  It looks like... I need to create a special body cultivation method--the growth type. It was possible; I'd already checked, but it would need a full 100 points and potentially even a secondary, supplementary method unrelated to it.

  Despite me hoping otherwise, breaking through minor realms didn't seem to trigger any special rewards from the system, and randomly stumbling upon the points like I did that one time seemed too volatile. What to do?

  "M-Master," Dai Xiu spoke up, seemingly on the verge of crying. "Do... do you have another disciple? Beside Senior Brother Tao and me?"

  "No, just the two of you."

  "So, that means..."

  "Yes, you will have to fight in the tournament and reach the finale. Don't worry," I quickly assured her, smiling and petting her head gently. "As I said, once you have resolved your current ails, there is no doubt in me that you will soar! Believe Master, okay?" She seemed to relax somewhat, her fingers curling up into fists.

  Hm?

  Look at that determination!

  ... isn't there a chance she might ask Long Tao outright to help her? And he'd probably heard the massive rewards they'd get if they secured the first two spots?! Won't that mean he'll help--

  "No." yep.

  That bastard just read my mind and casually demolished my hopes as he walked past me and out. Why not?! Isn't it beneficial for you?!

  Then again, it would likely cripple Dai Xiu's future potential. Unlike Long Tao, or even me with the system, she had to experience the path of immortality--to achieve Dao, she had to live it, and if either he or I offered her shortcuts, her future would be cut short. After all, in the best-case scenario, her actual talent might not necessarily be any worse than Long Tao's.

  Can you imagine that? A hundred years from now, the two of them out and about conquering the world, and then there's me, riding a dragon they captured, following silently behind them!

  ... Okay, enough daydreaming.

  First things first: I have a shitload of money right now. No, seriously; I've probably gone from being one of the most destitute Elders in the entire province to being one of the richest.

  With over a thousand medium-grade Spirit Stones, not only can I purchase the best building materials as well as servants to actually build, but also pills and pastes and various baths, especially for Dai Xiu, as hers would be the path of body cultivation.

  At the same time, I... want to experiment a bit. The system was quite vague about the ways in which I can earn Creation Points, but that's not good enough. I at least need to have the working knowledge, if not for now, then for the future. If I'm to latch onto the thick thighs of my disciples and ride their bus, I can't be useful just at the start.

  In my experiments with the system, the Creation Points costs skyrocketed with each major realm. Creating a method that can help someone reach 'Void Transformation' (the most basic one, mind you, one likely even worse than the Spirit Sword method of the sect) costs a whopping 3,000 Creation Points.

  It seemed that the cost of Special Arts was a bit, well, special due to the fact that they were highly specialized and completely worthless outside their specific contexts. If I'm to also create an arsenal of attacking, defensive, and movement arts, even the ones that were just good enough for this corner of the world, it'll likely take over ten thousand Creation Points.

  How can I secure that by simply hoping to just stumble into wealth? No! I need to figure out the triggers and proactively hunt for them! I may not have any talent in cultivation, and I may be entirely dependent on my disciples for the future, but dammit, I do have a lot of free time to figure out how this crap works!