With the end of the first day of recruitment, the total number of sect disciples had tripled, making the top of Black Rock Mountain much livelier.

Aotian, thinking about the problems of the cultivation world, decided to force a situation that left all the disciples with strange and confused expressions.

At that moment, on top of the mountain, in a huge public plaza located on a lower part of the peak, a lavish meal was laid out under the bewildered eyes of the disciples who had been gathered by the elders.

“Errr… elder, this is mortal food, isn’t it? We can’t eat that.”

Lin Xiaoxue, the cheerful little girl of the sect, looked with a strange face at Elder Zhao, who was presiding over the event. Even as she said this, she couldn’t help wiping a bit of drool from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve upon smelling the aroma.

“Yes, this is mortal food. We invited and paid a hefty sum of gold to find the best mortal chefs in the surrounding region to prepare this banquet And no, normally you can’t eat this, due to the buildup of impurities in your roots, which slows cultivation. But what you’ve probably never thought about is that, with the techniques the sect gave you, that small amount of impurities can be expelled in just a few minutes.”

Elder Zhao smiled at the little girl, who had grown quite close to him.

Aotian had noticed that the girl had a special attachment to this particular avatar of his, seeing him almost as a grandfather. And he also liked her spontaneity, not minding being more attentive with her.

Xiaoxue’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Does that mean we can eat as much as we want?!”

She shouted gleefully, hopping with joy.

“No.”

Elder Zhao cut her off mercilessly, smiling, making the little girl freeze mid-air.

“Elder, you’re being mean again.”

She puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms, sulking.

While the newcomers watched confused, the veteran disciples chuckled at the scene. It seemed this had happened many times before: Lin Xiaoxue jumping to conclusions, only for Elder Zhao to immediately shut her down.

“Little girl, I’m not being mean. You’re just too quick to jump to conclusions.”

He smiled, teasing her, and explained while all the disciples listened closely.

“Although you can quickly expel impurities with the sect’s techniques, that’s still limited to the impurities you can perceive with your weak energy. If you consume too much food with impurities, small and tiny impurities you can’t yet see can accumulate in your roots and harm your cultivation speed. While the sect’s techniques are powerful enough that even those will be washed away over time as your energy circulates and your cultivation grows, if you keep eating and don’t give your roots time to recover, it’ll only hurt you more. So, you can’t eat mortal food every day, only occasionally.”

The elder explained with seriousness, allowing the veteran disciples to slowly understand what they needed to do so they wouldn’t mess up their roots.

Meanwhile, the new disciples listened with slightly furrowed brows. A certain unease began to stir in their hearts, realizing that the sect’s first act was to encourage them to eat mortal food.

Elder Zhao noticed this as well and smiled, unconcerned.

“You new disciples haven’t had access to the techniques yet and don’t understand what’s going on, so I won’t blame you. You don’t need to eat. This gathering isn’t about the food but about the interaction among disciples. They say the cultivation journey is long and lonely, but that’s because many have no choice. You do. In any case, I hope you’ll at least try. With that said, enjoy yourselves.”

He smiled at the stunned disciples, then turned around and left without looking back.

Aotian and Rihai were in the middle of the crowd of disciples.

“What do you think?”

He asked her, smiling.

Rihai, who had been analyzing the elder’s words and the sect’s true intentions, was pulled from her thoughts by Aotian’s question. But as she processed what he said and how he said it, something clicked in her mind, and she quickly turned to him in shock.

“Y-you’re behind this?!”

She whispered, staring at him, stunned.

She remembered the conversation they had about friendships and the loneliness of the cultivation world.

He didn’t respond. He just winked mischievously at her.

Rihai couldn’t help but place her hand on her forehead, helpless before Aotian’s antics. He really was the reason behind such a strange and random feast arranged by the sect.

If others knew he used his influence in the sect to pull off things like this, she didn’t even know what they’d think.

“Haha!”

Aotian couldn’t hold back and laughed at her adorable, speechless expression, grabbing her delicate hand and pulling her toward the banquet.

“Tian’er, you really don’t like following logic.”

She sighed, helpless before him, but there was a trace of amusement in her eyes, which Aotian noticed easily.

“I was born to impress. Now let’s eat. What’s it been? Seven or eight months eating nothing but spiritual rice or fasting pills? If I hadn’t advanced to Foundation Establishment and didn’t need to eat anymore, I’d probably throw up just from seeing those things again.”

He complained as he piled food onto his plate.

“Don’t be so dramatic, they’re not that bad.”

Rihai shook her head with a smile. She grabbed a plate too and began placing a few seemingly appetizing items on it.

It had been many, many years since she had eaten anything other than pills and spiritual rice. She no longer even remembered what real food tasted like, and couldn’t help but feel curious about what it would be like.

Of course, it probably couldn’t compare to the spiritual food she’d eaten when she was young, but that was so long ago she had already forgotten the nostalgic taste of that time.

Either way, what the elder said made sense, and the sect’s techniques really were impressive enough that there was little reason to worry about eating mortal food, so she went ahead and ate without fear.

“Truly not bad to sustain the body, but not something one can enjoy.”

Still on the subject of spiritual rice and fasting pills, he shook his head while making a small mountain of food on his plate.

“I remember you really liked spiritual rice when you first ate it.”

Rihai teased, taking a little of everything, with a plate much more delicate than Aotian’s heap.

“The first time, sure, but look how long it’s been. And I also ate rice at all four meals to train. My palate’s been numb for a long time, I don’t even taste it anymore.”

Aotian complained, stuffing a piece of pork into his mouth, looking satisfied.

He then walked to a table with Rihai beside him, who was laughing at his silly expression while eating.

Soon, however, she also focused on her plate, her eyes lighting up with the taste.

Veteran disciples nearby were also eating with joy written across their faces, some even crying and calling themselves idiots for having started cultivating and missing out on food for so long.

Aotian had a great time watching the scenes and felt good about his decision, and about the cheerful faces of the disciples.

As for the new disciples, they were more isolated and weren’t eating, except for one or two brave ones.

Aotian didn’t blame them — the ones eating were the strange ones in this case.

While eating and chatting, the couple was looking for a place to sit, when Aotian saw Lin Xiaoxue with a plate almost as full as his, sitting next to Xiao Ling, the girl with a perfect spiritual root, whose plate was as delicate as Rihai’s.

“Hai’er, let’s sit with them.”

Aotian said, nodding his chin toward the two girls.

Rihai looked into Aotian’s eyes, and upon seeing that he had no ulterior motives with the pretty girls, she felt more at ease.

“Sure.”

She agreed, though not very enthusiastically.

Rihai was somewhat antisocial, while Aotian was more outgoing. So she wasn’t thrilled, but didn’t refuse either.

“Then let’s go.”

He smiled, amused, knowing her personality well.

Aotian also wanted her to make friends, and this was his way of helping with that.

The two girls noticed them approaching and looked at them with curiosity.

“Hello, senior sister Xiao, junior sister Lin.”

Aotian and Rihai greeted politely.

“Junior sister Liu, junior brother Aotian.”

Xiao Ling responded with the same courtesy, calm and elegant.

“Junior brother Long, junior sister Liu!!”

Lin Xiaoxue was very different — she shouted excitedly as soon as she saw them, raising a chicken leg in her hand, not forgetting to call them junior.

“Well, we were looking for a table and saw you two. We wanted to ask if we could join you, since the elders’ goal is exactly that — for everyone to get to know each other better.”

Aotian smiled, explaining to avoid discomfort from their sudden appearance.

“But of course!”

The little girl Lin Xiaoxue answered right away, smiling excitedly, but then froze.

“Uhhh… it’s okay, right?”

She looked embarrassedly at Xiao Ling, remembering she had answered for her without thinking.

Xiao Ling couldn’t help but smile amusingly at seeing the little girl panic, and with a slight nod, agreed.

“Great! Have a seat! Let’s eat together!”

Xiaoxue, seeing the nod, turned back to them and spoke cheerfully, her happy smile returning.

“Excuse us.”

Aotian and Rihai thanked them with smiles and sat down, beginning to eat and chat with the two girls.

At first, the conversation was a bit mechanical, but with Aotian and Xiaoxue constantly bringing up topics, the table soon filled with laughter and banter.

“…Senior sister Rihai, how did you know you liked brother Long back then? From what you said, he was still a mortal, right? What if he didn’t have spiritual roots and couldn’t cultivate?”

With both hands supporting her chin, Xiaoxue looked curiously at Rihai.

During the conversation, the couple ended up mentioning the time when they met.

“I didn’t know… I just felt he was special. In my heart, there was a void, and Aotian, as soon as he appeared, seemed to fill it with his eccentric and incredible personality — or at least made me forget that void existed. He could have been a mortal, and I still wouldn’t have regretted living a mortal life by his side. I think that was the kind of feeling that arose. Not that I knew it at the time, but later, before I realized it, I had already been in love with him for a long time.”

She smiled, held his hand while speaking, and rested her head on his shoulder.

She lifted her eyes and looked at his face. Aotian lowered his head and returned the gaze, warmly.

Lin Xiaoxue and Xiao Ling couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy upon seeing such a happy and loving couple.

Xiaoxue looked at her senior sister with a confused face.

“Sister, do you think we’ll ever find love too?”

She asked, a bit anxiously.

Slap!

“Owww! Sister Ling, why did you hit me?”

Xiaoxue puffed her cheeks, holding her forehead in pain after the smack.

“Look at your age before having thoughts like that. And about love… I don’t know. Focus on cultivation. Looking for love is pointless. If it has to come, it will. If not, keep cultivating.”

She could only scold her, helpless, but still spoke firmly to her mischievous little sister.

Pouting, Xiaoxue finally nodded, under the amused gaze of the trio at the table.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep