Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Xu Yinglian had just finished soaking in the hot spring and changed into her Taoist robe. She came out just in time to receive a message from her senior brother.

After meeting with Qiu Changtian and hearing about the mission, she frowned and asked,

“For just a mere mole cricket, we need to team up with other disciples? Isn’t that unnecessary?”

“We’re all from the same sect. It’s rare to meet, and helping each other isn’t too much, right?” Qiu Changtian explained with a smile.

If I don’t team up with people, how can I show off and boost my Synchronization Value? Only use you for that?

Isn’t it just because I’m worried about you, Junior Sister Xu Yinglian!

Xu Yinglian looked at him skeptically, obviously not appreciating his senior brother’s kindness. After a while, she nodded and said,

“It doesn’t matter, I’m just accompanying you anyway.”

By the time the two arrived downstairs at the restaurant, they saw the five outer sect disciples waiting at the entrance.

Liu Daoran was originally full of disdain and impatience, but as soon as his eyes caught a glimpse of Xu Yinglian, he was instantly mesmerized: it was really the actual young miss!

It should be noted that the world didn’t have the concept of “black long straight” hair, but mainstream aesthetics still heavily favored black long straight hair.

One’s hair should be “dark without the aid of jewels,” and skin should be “pale without the need for powder and rouge,” in essence, a reverence for natural beauty.

Xu Yinglian’s appearance and temperament undoubtedly stood at the pinnacle of these attributes.

Clothed in a white plain robe without any jewelry. Her complexion pure, untainted by makeup. Her black hair cascading like a waterfall, held carelessly with a ribbon, without the embellishment of a pearl hairpin—she struck directly at the heart of mainstream aesthetics.

As a result, the three male Kunlun disciples momentarily lost themselves in a daze at the sight of her, before quickly recovering and straightening their backs, trying to adopt a humble and elegant demeanor.

On the other hand, the two female Kunlun disciples, who were initially happy to see Qiu Changtian return, immediately felt an instinctive aversion and a touch of jealousy upon seeing Xu Yinglian’s appearance.

Everyone then reintroduced themselves, and when it came to her turn, she simply said “Xu Yinglian,” and stood by Qiu Changtian’s side without further conversation.

“Is it a coincidence that she has the same name as Xu Yinglian? Or is it a fake name taken on purpose?” Wen Qin said with a sneer, and Liu Yiyi quickly tugged on her arm, “Keep your voice down.”

Looking again at Liu Daoran, who had previously questioned “is this really the young miss,” he was now eagerly explaining the mission details to Xu Yinglian, along with Lv Zheng.

Hu Haozhi, with his seniority a level above everyone else, did not deem it worthy to stoop to explaining, so he just kept nodding, signifying, “What they’re saying is right, I totally agree.”

“I only need to listen to Senior Brother Qiu,” Xu Yinglian coldly interjected after these male disciples had finished their clamorous explanations.

Seeing the three men deflate, the two female disciples couldn’t help but cover their mouths and snicker.

With various thoughts in mind, the group rode their Sword Lights towards Old Dragon Ridge.

The journey was through high-altitude grasslands, with herds of cattle and sheep and nomadic tents scattered throughout. In the distance were lush fields and blue skies, with snow-capped peaks stretching endlessly, evoking a sense of boundless expansiveness and heartlifting bliss.

Taking into account that there were exactly seven people in the team, Qiu Changtian wanted to mention “Seven Swords Down from Tianshan,” but considering that no one would get the reference, he had to let it go.

It’s absurd to say, but during the journey, in order to test the synchronization mechanism of Mirror Flower Water Moon, he chatted with a few female disciples in the team, and incidentally introduced the story behind Old Dragon Ridge.

Wen Qin and Liu Yiyi ingratiatingly praised him for his “profound knowledge,” yet the Synchronization Value didn’t budge an inch.

Xu Yinglian snorted, “Brother, do you think I don’t know these things?” and then, the Synchronization Value increased by +1.

Clearly, even though both were showing off in front of her, the two female outer sect disciples didn’t genuinely think he was impressive; they were merely pretending to be in awe to curry favor.

Junior Sister Xu, however, was unaware of the tale of Old Dragon Ridge, cared about her defeat in the competition of knowledge and so contributed a little Synchronization Value.

My junior sister really is the adorable one. What noble breeds are you other outer sect disciples?

Trash!

Lucky for me to have brought my junior sister along on this trip!

To return to the matter at hand, to the north of the main peak of Old Dragon Ridge lies a narrow, elongated valley known as “Da Zhi Gou.”

Within Da Zhi Gou runs a river, which the locals call “Camel River.”

The Spirit Stone mine is situated at the headwaters of Camel River, where several stewards and a large group of miners stood outside the mine, their faces etched with worry.

It wasn’t until Qiu Changtian and his group of seven descended that the stewards rushed over in panic, as if they had found a lifesaving straw, and joyfully said:

“The immortals have finally arrived!”

“Do not panic,” Qiu Changtian said soothingly, “Our time is limited, so let’s discuss the matter of the Demonic Beasts in detail.”

Lv Zheng felt slightly annoyed upon hearing this, as he had intended to ask about the issue himself, but Qiu Changtian had beaten him to it, making it seem as if he were leading the team.

However, sparring with this person would undoubtedly result in the wrath of the other female teammates—Liu Daoran’s fate was still fresh in everyone’s mind. As such, he remained silent, listening to the stewards explain.

It turned out that a few days prior, miners had suddenly started disappearing within the mine, and there was a faint glint of blood-light deep within the tunnels.

Thinking it to be some kind of wild beast like a cave bear, the stewards had organized a team of miners to investigate.

What they discovered inside were man-eating mole crickets.

Demonic Beasts are different from wild beasts; the latter can be dealt with arrows, but the former require the use of Flying Swords.

Therefore, the stewards promptly reported to the Sect, and the Stewards’ Hall issued a task to the Qi Refining Rank disciples.

After hearing the report, the group moved to a secluded spot to discuss.

“What do you all think?” Lv Zheng, learning from his previous mistake, did not wait for Qiu Changtian to speak and instead initiated the discussion, trying to take charge of the meeting and simultaneously show off in front of Xu Yinglian.

“What else can we do? It’s just mole crickets, let’s just charge in and kill them,” Hu Haozhi said impatiently.

“What does Senior Brother Qiu think?” asked Wen Qin with a smile.

“If it were just mole crickets, that would be fine,” Qiu Changtian solemnly stated, “But do you all remember? The steward mentioned that on the day of the incident, there was a faint blood-light flickering within the cave.”

He called the stewards over again and asked them to confirm, to which they did confirm the presence of the blood-light in the cave.

“Now we have a problem,” Qiu Changtian dismissed the stewards and said calmly, “Mole crickets don’t possess the art of the Five Spirits, so where did this blood-light come from?”

“Blood-light is just a metaphor, right?” Lv Zheng raised an objection, “It could simply be the light reflecting from fresh blood splattered on the walls after the mole crickets attacked their prey.”

Qiu Changtian was speechless.

One must have a pretty big hole in their head to think that blood-light is merely the reflection of fresh blood. Have I not repeatedly confirmed the “blood-light” with the stewards? Were you not present just now, or are you hard of hearing?

“Don’t worry,” Liu Daoran glanced at Xu Yinglian out of the corner of his eye, then said with a smile to Qiu Changtian, “If you’re scared, you can stay at the back of the team.”

Hearing him directly mock his senior brother, Xu Yinglian raised her eyebrows in astonishment and turned to whisper to Qiu Changtian:

“What’s with him?”

“Just jealous,” Qiu Changtian whispered back, “After all, Junior Sister is quite lovely.”

“So pointless,” Xu Yinglian said with mild exasperation, “Why can’t they focus on what’s right?”

“Exactly,” Qiu Changtian agreed.

Seeing the two of them whispering intimately as if they were a couple, the expressions of the other five external disciples darkened.

This… We’re all from the same Sect, how can you be so oblivious to others’ feelings?

So you’re just going to stuff dog food down our throats, is that it!