159: Chapter 157 Personal Disciple - Luo Xiling

Luo Xiling felt her vision blur for a moment. When she regained consciousness, she found herself standing on a platform, facing outward.

"Kneel."

A voice came from behind her. She finally realized what was happening and hurriedly turned around.

Standing before her was a man.

His pure white robe seemed untouched by the dust of the mundane world, and his silver-white hair, which reached his waist, was neatly tied back.

His features weren't particularly handsome, but his entire temperament was exceptionally ethereal.

Who was he?

She had previously lost her grip from exhaustion and fallen off the cliff, only to strangely fly through the air and land on the mountaintop platform. Combined with the man before her who was clearly no ordinary person...

Luo Xiling's mind, which had just cleared, became muddled again.

But as she looked more closely at the man's attire, a jolt went through her heart.

It felt so familiar... Where had she seen this before...

After thinking hard with a grimace, she finally remembered—this person was exactly the same as the immortal in the tribulation-transcendence video that first went viral a few months ago!

Yes, there was no mistake!

Otherwise, how could she explain how she had mysteriously flown up here?

Luo Xiling's eyes lit up. She stared intently at the immortal watching her, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly.

After longing for months and even risking her life to find him, the immortal was standing right in front of her, and she suddenly didn't know what to say.

She could only keep staring at the immortal.

Is this an immortal?

Can he fly?

Definitely. Not only can he fly himself, but he can also make others fly!

"Kneel," the immortal spoke again.

Luo Xiling heard a hint of helplessness in the immortal's tone.

Kneel?

She ruminated on those two words in her mind for a while, and a realization began to dawn on her.

Everyone talked about seeking immortals to become their disciples, but the immortal had never said he wanted to take a student. Could it be... that my daily mountain climbing here has made him angry?

Following that train of thought, she felt that must be it.

If it were her own home and an uninvited stranger was wandering around outside every day, eventually even breaking in, wouldn't she be furious?

Realizing her behavior was indeed reckless and rude, the more Luo Xiling thought about it, the more scared she became, quietly burying her head toward her chest.

Meanwhile, Zhang Mu, who was using his Transformation Technique, was completely bewildered.

I'm telling her to kneel and become my disciple; what is she dazing off for?

Even if she didn't link it to apprenticeship, is my prestige as an immortal so ineffective?

So, his tone grew heavier: "Kneel!"

Perhaps frightened, Luo Xiling fell to her knees with a "thud," her face full of remorse. "Immortal, you can punish me however you like."

"It's just... I have elderly parents and young ones to care for. Could you please spare my life?"

You've read too many novels.

Zhang Mu resisted the urge to roll his eyes and took a few steps forward, standing in front of her. "Bow."

Looking at the tips of his feet before her, Luo Xiling didn't hesitate to kowtow her head against the hard stone ground.

She thought, since he's making me kowtow, does that mean he's agreed to spare my life?

Zhang Mu counted her kowtows, thinking nine would be just right.

But when he saw the phone on top of her head with the bullet comments scrolling rapidly, he suddenly forgot his count.

"Holy crap, I thought free soloing was badass enough, but I didn't expect her to find an actor to play an immortal. She's really going all out, huh?"

"To be fair, the 'immortal' act is a bit cheesy, but the unprotected climbing is definitely impressive."

"By the way, I was scared to death when she lost her grip just now. Then the stream shook a few times, and she was at the top. How'd she do that?"

"Is there a helicopter overhead?"

"Are you an idiot? How loud are helicopter rotors? If there was one, wouldn't we hear it?"

There were still many who didn't believe, but it didn't matter.

The corner of Zhang Mu's mouth curled up almost imperceptibly. His gaze fell back on Luo Xiling, who was still kowtowing because she hadn't heard him speak. "Rise."

She stood up unsteadily.

Zhang Mu took a look—good grief, this girl was too honest; her forehead was bleeding from the kowtowing.

"Immortal, can... can I leave now?" Luo Xiling glanced at him cautiously, not even daring to raise her hand to wipe the blood trickling past the corner of her eye.

Leave?

If I let you leave, I'd waste this great opportunity to spread the word about "Cultivators."

A cheerful Zhang Mu maintained a smile on his face. "Conditions here are inconvenient, so everything must be simplified, but the master-disciple rites have been performed nonetheless."

"From now on, call me Master."

"Huh?" She was dazed. What did that mean? Master?

"Unwilling?"

Jolted awake, Luo Xiling finally realized what was happening. Her heart pounded so violently it felt like it would burst from her chest.

Taking a few deep breaths, she placed her hands over her lower abdomen, her fingers twisting together as she called out somewhat bashfully, "Ma... Master."

With a wave of Zhang Mu's hand, a sheathed longsword and a porcelain bottle appeared in the air between them. "It's getting late today, and I still have some personal matters to attend to."

"Keep the moon bright sword and the Crystal Jade safe. Return here tomorrow at the Hour of the Tiger."

As his voice faded, the pure white figure dimmed and vanished.

After a moment of daze, Luo Xiling snapped out of it, realizing that this sword and porcelain bottle were likely the legendary Apprenticeship gifts.

She looked around a few times to make sure her Master had left before reaching out to poke the floating medicine bottle.

Seeing no reaction, she grabbed the longsword and the bulbous porcelain bottle.

"Immortal pills? An immortal sword?"

Looking at her left hand, then her right, she gripped them tightly. Feeling the cool touch, Luo Xiling slowly broke into a wide grin.

I really found an immortal!

Suddenly, she remembered her livestream was still on. Her viewers, who were always sarcastic toward her, must have witnessed everything just now.

Tucking the moon bright sword under her arm, she freed a hand to grab her phone. "Did you see that? Did you see that!"

"This girl is now the personal disciple of an immortal!"

As soon as she said this, the already dense bullet comments exploded in volume again.

"It's fake, right? A script?"

"Uh, you can't really fake a livestream, can you? That guy just now..."

"Maybe it's real. I just watched the recording; that person's attire is exactly the same as the one in the tribulation video from five months ago!"

"I don't believe it unless there's official endorsement, or the streamer lets me taste what's in that bottle to see if it works."

"Brother, your ulterior motives are showing."

Seeing these comments, Luo Xiling remembered her Apprenticeship gifts and quickly sat down cross-legged.

Then she rotated her helmet and placed it on the ground, pointing the front camera at herself. She laid the moon bright sword across her lap and held up the porcelain bottle to inspect it.

She tapped it with her index finger; the sound seemed like normal ceramic.

Pulling out the oddly colored wooden cork, a fresh fragrance immediately filled her nostrils.

"It smells so good!"

After a moment of intoxication, she brought her right eye close to the mouth of the bottle; inside was a glazed, colorful liquid.

"Is it for drinking?"

Luo Xiling's muttering made the viewers in the stream anxious.

"Damn, you're hiding the good stuff from your brothers, aren't you?"

"Hurry up and move the camera so I can see!"

Glancing at the phone screen, she waved her hand dismissively. "It's a script, all a script. Nothing much to see."

As soon as she said that, a wave of insults flooded the comments.

She didn't care at all, her attention returning to the liquid. She wondered if she should drink it directly or use it for a medicinal bath.

After a long while, she ultimately didn't dare try it, deciding to ask her Master tomorrow.

"By the way, what time is the Hour of the Tiger?"

She muttered while scratching her head. A knowledgeable viewer immediately typed: "Around five or six in the morning."

"That's still early then." Luo Xiling stood up and patted her butt. "I'll go back... Holy shit!"

Looking around the small mountaintop platform, she was completely dumbfounded. "How am I supposed to get down?!"