Awkward.
Chang Fei was truly awkward at this moment.
As for the reason? He had run into a kid from the Nangong family halfway through and, for no apparent reason, the kid wanted to become his disciple.
How could he accept that?
He asked the boy why he wanted to become his disciple, hoping to get to the root of the matter.
Unexpectedly, the boy just smiled and said all he wanted was for Chang Fei to accept him as a disciple, so that particular matter wouldn’t require Chang Fei’s involvement at all.
What kind of ridiculous joke was this? Taking on a piece of land to cultivate would come with its own benefits, right? Recently, Chang Fei had already been swamped with work.
He was still under threat of being erased if he didn’t complete his thirty-day task.
Where did he have the time or energy to consider taking on a disciple? Besides, he himself was still a student undergoing nine years of compulsory education, wasn’t he? And when it came to Yue Lao’s matters, he was barely competent.
If it weren’t to get rid of this burden, he wouldn’t have meddled in the first place.
But now…
“No! I can’t accept you as my disciple! I’m really busy right now, extremely busy! I have no time to take you as my disciple. If I do, I might die!” Chang Fei shook the teenager clinging to his leg, cold sweat streaming down his face.
A thousand wild horses seemed to be stampeding inside his mind, but he just couldn’t get past this.
It was stuck in his head, driving him crazy.
He was this close to kicking the kid off.
Nangong Quan felt utterly wronged inside.
He had been tricked again!
But at least this time, the person tricking him wasn’t a bad guy.
“Master, you can’t go back on your word! You promised that if I told you my story, you’d definitely accept me as your disciple. You’re a master—you can’t just break your word! You’ll be struck by Heaven’s thunder!”
“Nonsense! I’m so handsome, charming, and wise—everyone loves me—how could I possibly be struck by thunder?!” Chang Fei shouted angrily.
This kid was cursing him! He had to say something good about himself to prove that he was impossible to be hit by lightning.
“Boom—” Thunder suddenly rumbled in the sky, and a bolt of lightning flashed toward the window.
Chang Fei’s body hairs stood on end instantly.
In that moment, he felt static electricity!
Was this some kind of joke?
Say something and it happens?
Like a deity’s words, with Heaven itself watching?
Wait, hadn’t he already become one of the immortals—Yue Lao himself? So it made sense that whatever he said would be judged by Heaven…
“Heaven, are you joking? I’m so outstanding, and you want to strike me down?” Chang Fei couldn’t help but complain, but another bolt of lightning flashed through the sky, making his heart tremble. “Hmm… not so coincidental… hehe… it must be that the weather’s changing soon, about to rain. I’m just paranoid thinking the lightning struck me…”
But Chang Fei couldn’t finish the sentence—the lightning had indeed struck him.
He was electrocuted so badly that he looked terrible.
His face was scorched black, and his hair formed a perfect bird’s nest.
Opening his mouth, a wisp of blue smoke drifted out.
Chang Fei gave the sky a fierce middle finger before lowering his gaze to the boy still clinging to his leg.
The boy was clearly startled, but then his face immediately blossomed into a radiant smile. “So it really did thunder! I’m perfectly fine, but Master was struck by lightning instead. Doesn’t that prove that Heaven supports me, not you? Master, does that mean you have to accept me as your disciple now?”
Chang Fei scratched his head, feeling lightning crackle in his palms.
He chuckled. “Fine. I can accept you as my disciple, but only if you can pass my test. If you fail, I refuse to accept you.”
“Test? What test?” Nangong Quan was thrilled.
For him, even if the test meant going through fire and water, he’d do it, as long as he could become a disciple!
His eyes sparkled with excitement like a little Red Riding Hood seeing the big bad wolf—ready to jump into action.
Chang Fei broke out in a cold sweat just from that look. “If you can reconcile three pairs of enemies, turning their hostility into friendship or even making them relatives or lovers, then I’ll accept you as my disciple!”
“Huh? Wasn’t I supposed to collect Tianshan Snow Lotus or Underworld River Flower or something?” Nangong Quan was surprised.
This was way beyond what he expected.
This task didn’t sound easy to handle at all.
Chang Fei nodded solemnly. “Our Peaceful Heart School despises fighting and killing, chasing fame and profit. What we seek is a peaceful mind, a determination for peace, and the noble ideal of pursuing kindness and beauty in people. Only with that can one achieve anything in our school. Otherwise, becoming my disciple is just a waste of time.”
Chang Fei had thought it through.
From the protagonists he’d known in stories, those with special auras most hated self-righteousness and the inability to kill.
They pursued a life free of grudges, one filled with carefree forgiveness, fighting, killing, and plundering.
It made no sense that they would want to cultivate peacefully under him, avoid killing, and embrace peace and kindness.
Haha, even he couldn’t manage that, so how could anyone else?
“Oh! So that’s how it is! Then I’ll go try right away! Master, I can’t promise I’ll really bring people together, but if I really do, you have to promise not to go back on your word again, okay? Or you’ll be struck by lightning again!”
That slap to the face was loud and clear—slap, slap! Chang Fei felt like he was about to be smacked flat on the ground.
Nangong Quan hadn’t even thought twice before agreeing to his terms and rushing out.
Was he just waiting to help match three couples?
This desire to become a disciple and such innocent thinking perfectly matched what Chang Fei had said about his school’s nature! He’d never seen such a pure kid, someone who left his would-be master behind just to go complete the task.
It made Chang Fei suddenly feel uneasy, starting to doubt whether what he was doing was really a good idea…
“Congratulations on unlocking the Achievement Task: Yue Lao Accepts Disciple.”
“Congratulations on unlocking the Achievement Task: Assign Yue Lao Task.”
“Completing the task rewards: Disciple ×1, Disciple Set ×1, Disciple Inner Power Manual ×1, Internal Yuan ×2000.”
“Failing to complete the achievement task within thirty days results in -2000 Internal Yuan.”
The unexpected warm reminder from the Yue Lao mini-book moved Chang Fei to tears.
Taking on a disciple was truly urgent! It forced him to place this matter firmly on his Yue Lao schedule.
If the boy didn’t complete the task, he would lose 2000 Internal Yuan out of nowhere!
He was only lv.18.
Where was he going to get that much Internal Yuan?
He’d be dead!
If his Internal Yuan ran out, he really would die!
Chang Fei now seriously suspected that among all the gods, only the Yue Lao System was this cruel and unfair!
When would some other deity come and swap places with him? His heart was so tired…