Master Is Calling You Home for Dinner

Through this experience, Zhu Yao understood her master a bit better. Her master was not only unlike normal people, but he also suffered from face blindness! Who on earth lived for tens of thousands of years yet couldn't remember the names of the peak masters? With his personality, he had probably offended everyone long ago. Comparing herself to him, she was indeed much more kind-hearted and pure. Because of this, Zhu Yao felt completely at ease.

But Yu Yan was a man of his word. He said she wasn't allowed to go down the mountain, and sure enough, he immediately removed the teleportation formation. Without a formation to leave, and not knowing how to fly a sword, Zhu Yao had no choice but to accept the grueling training of confinement he had set for her. The next day, Yu Yan also began staring at her all day to watch her cultivate. Despite this, Zhu Yao still couldn't sense even a speck of spiritual energy, as if she were a born insulator to it.

Her master said she had entered the sect late, unlike children whose minds were simple and clear, making it hard for her to cast aside worldly thoughts and focus on cultivation. In her terms, it meant she was old and overthought things. Learning the truth, Zhu Yao wept silent tears. Was being old her fault? She was still naive and inexperienced, still a cute, dreaming child at heart. Compared to this cultivation world where people were easily hundreds or thousands of years old, wasn't she just like a child?

After three months of closed-door cultivation, the result still left her deeply grieved.

Suddenly, a few "knock knock knock" sounds came from outside the door, making Zhu Yao feel curious. Who could it be? On this Yulin Peak, apart from her and her master, there was no one else, and her master never knocked on doors.

Opening the door, she saw no one outside, only a very exquisite paper crane on the ground, tirelessly flapping its tiny wings. The knocking sound from earlier had been made by its beak pecking at the door. This was the first time Zhu Yao had seen such magic, and out of curiosity, she reached down.

The paper crane obediently settled into her palm, quickly unfolding into a sheet of paper covered in writing. So this was a letter.

Zhu Yao picked up the paper to read. She noticed the handwriting was a bit childish, crooked, and uneven in size, clearly written by a child. It read:
"Ugly wife, you are a liar! Senior Brother told me to call you Martial Aunt, but I won't acknowledge it, hmph!"

Zhu Yao instantly knew who had written this letter. Her hands and feet suddenly itched with the urge to give little friend Wang's buttocks a good spanking. Since when had her name been changed to "wife," and now "ugly wife"?

Looking closer, she noticed another line of text in the corner. If she hadn't looked carefully, she would have missed it. She held the paper closer and stared at it for a long time before making out what was written: "Last time, thank you!"

She sighed. Wasn't this thanking her for comforting him last time? Zhu Yao shook her head. This "bear cub" had such a bizarre way of expressing gratitude. If three months weren't enough to prove someone was trash, then five years was certainly enough to cement that title. In the blink of an eye, five years had passed. Over these five years, no matter how hard Zhu Yao tried to sense spiritual energy, it always avoided her. Thus, she was currently no different from a piece of useless wood. She even began to suspect that there was a glitch in her transmigration—why didn't she have a "golden finger"?

Could it be that the physical differences between humans of the two worlds prevented her from cultivating? But clearly, the magic and elixirs of this world worked on her.

Zhu Yao stood at the mountain peak, silently grieving as she watched the clouds drift lazily across the sky.

From the increasingly beautiful handwriting in the letters sent by little friend Wang, she learned that a year ago, he had already cultivated to the tenth level of Qi Condensation. Among the disciples, his speed was the fastest. He had been personally taken in as a direct disciple by Daoist Master Zidan.

Zhu Yao was happy for him. On the other hand, she felt incredibly helpless—so helpless that she was about to turn into absolute dregs. Sigh, where exactly was the benefit of her transmigration? Asking was easy, but waiting felt endless.

"Quack, quack, quack! Master is calling you home for dinner! Master is calling you home for dinner!"
The cries of a crane interrupted her melancholy. Zhu Yao turned her head, glaring at the crane in the sky that sounded no different from a male duck.

Five years ago, after receiving Wang Cizhi's paper crane, she had found it fascinating. She had gone to ask her master about this method of communication, which led him to misunderstand and think she liked it. Thus, Master Yu Yan followed suit, but he refused to use paper cranes, finding them too cheap and unfitting for his noble and refined image.

Instead of paper cranes, he used real cranes.
……
"Master is calling you home for dinner! Quack, quack, quack! Master is calling you home for dinner! Screech!"
"Are you a spiritual crane or a duck?"

Zhu Yao rolled her eyes at the crane, which only knew that single phrase, and quickly turned back. If she didn't return, that stupid crane would surely keep squawking.

Yu Yan had just placed the food on the table when he saw his disciple walking back from afar. He sat down contentedly to wait. After greeting him, she began eating in a hurry. Seeing this, he spoke in a calm, flat voice:
"Tomorrow, I will leave here for a period of time."

Zhu Yao was startled and looked up at him. Wasn't he a shut-in who hadn't stepped outside for ten thousand years?
"Master, where are you going?"
"In a few days, it will be the sect's once-in-a-century grand assembly. The eight sects and five schools of the cultivation world will all gather at the Qiugu Sect."

The sect assembly was the most important event in the cultivation world. The Qiugu Sect was known as the number one sect in the cultivation world, so every assembly was hosted by them.
"Master, are you participating in the assembly too?"

Zhu Yao felt excited. To be honest, having lived here for so many years, although she had seen her master cook and sew, she had never seen him fight.
"Who are you fighting? Can you win, Master?"

Yu Yan's brow twitched. He couldn't help but reach out and rap his foolish disciple on the head:
"There are many diverse people in the cultivation world now. To prevent demons from taking this opportunity to infiltrate, I must go reinforce the mountain protection formation."
Why couldn't his foolish disciple understand that those at the Nascent Soul Realm and above were said to possess the power to move mountains and drain seas? Thus, they would not easily fight, let alone him.

"Ah." So it was just setting up formations. She had thought her master was going to fight.
"So what exactly do they compete in at this assembly?"
"Each sect selects three representatives from the Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core Realms to duel and determine the top three spots."

Zhu Yao's eyes darted around. Abandoning her meal, she chose a bench closest to her master and slid over:
"Master, will it be very lively that day? Can I..."
"No!"

Before Zhu Yao could finish, Yu Yan shut her down, adding another blow:
"Unless you reach Foundation Establishment."
"Mas...ter..."

Zhu Yao dragged out her words, looking pitifully at the man opposite her. Asking her to reach Foundation Establishment was an absolute myth; she had been confined for five years.

Yu Yan pretended not to see.

Zhu Yao's expression grew even more sorrowful and tragic. *Master, you are truly heartless, shameless, and unreasonable.*

The man opposite her simply cleared the dishes and walked straight into the kitchen without looking back.

Zhu Yao collapsed onto the table in defeat. Looking up at the empty table, she suddenly realized: "Master, I haven't eaten my fill yet! Ah... ah... ah!"