With birdcage in hand, Chi Muyao stepped into the teahouse he often visited. The shopkeeper, who already knew his order by heart, came over to welcome him with a smile. “Please head to the guest room.”

“The lobby is fine today.” Chi Muyao came here with the intention of listening to some gossip, which was why he chose to stay in the lobby.

As he expected, it wasn’t long until he heard the people around him discuss the grand disciple selection of the renowned righteous sects.

The theme of this grand selection was 'Flower Casting Shadow', and the riddle provided was ‘the shadow flowing in background scenery’.

Technically, those who knew Zhang Xian’s poem ‘Tianxianzi’ could already guess the answer to the riddle. But there was no way any of these immortal cultivators had read said poem.

In this formation trial, the participating disciples were assigned to different scenarios in the trial arena, which was shaped like a huge flower. The groups of people placed on each petal had to fight their way through the gates towards the centre of the flower.

Those who could reach the centre would be accepted by Jin Se Range’s Nuan Yuan Pavilion. Of course, the disciples could choose to enter other sects if they wished.

However, only those who persevere until the end would be accepted by Nuan Yuan Pavilion, and those who persevere until the end would all choose to enter the Nuan Yuan Pavilion.

That’s not to say that the other disciples who couldn’t make it to the centre were out of luck.

If their performance stood out in one aspect or another during the trial, they might catch the eye of one of the other Sect Masters observing and be invited to their sect.

“Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable was the one who chose the theme of this selection.”

"Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable? The one rumoured to be the most beautiful man in the three realms?”

“Yes, him. He’s also a high ranking junior master of the Nuan Yuan Pavilion. Apparently no cultivator capable of matching his handsomeness has appeared for the last millennium.”

"But aren’t some people saying that the Qing Ze Sect’s Xi Huai is better looking than him? The renowned righteous sects are just too stuck up to admit it, that’s all.”

Chi Muyao placed a teacup next to the birdcage for the bird inside to poke its head out and take a few small sips with him.

The bird’s feathers had grown out a lot. They were mainly yellow, with black regions lining its head and the edges of its wings. Based on this, the bird resembled a yellow oriole.

But Chi Muyao’s had always thought the ring of black feathers atop the bird’s head looked rather like an advanced case of male pattern baldness. Quite amusing if you asked him.

He leisurely listened to all the gossip, but he kept his own opinion to himself.

Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable and Xi Huai were attractive in completely different ways. Since beauty was such a subjective matter, there was no need to compare the two.

Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable was a righteous elder, highly respected and well regarded by all—a cold and distant Nascent Soul Heavenly Venerable.

He was reserved, above mortal desires, untouchable, and strict with both himself and everyone else.

Xi Huai, on the other hand, was brimming with hostility and arrogance. His every move was unrestrained and wild.

He was untamed, domineering and aggressive to the max.

One was free from all desires, and the other bared his desires blatantly to the world.

Those people continued to chat.

"Early on in this grand selection, some disciples messed up and broke the formation, somehow turning it into a death trap in an instant. All the disciples were in great danger, but one evaded the jaws of death and found the eye of the formation. He used all he had learned and managed to save the day. I heard he even rescued a bunch of people along the way. He’s definitely the one who stood out most this time.”

With that, Chi Muyao took a sip of tea.

He knew who they were referring to. It had to be Xi Zihe, the male lead of this novel. Actually, despite this being his first meeting with the female lead, the two worked together harmoniously, laying the groundwork for their future romance.

After entering the Nuan Yan Pavilion, the two of them apprenticed under different masters. Due to his outstanding performance, Xi Zihe became the final disciple accepted by Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable, who had chosen the theme of the selection. This was akin to ascending to Heaven in one step, a complete reversal of fortunes.

Although Xi Zihe was very clever, he actually only had a three element spiritual root. Despite one of the elements being so weak it could barely be called an element, it still meant his talent was mediocre. Him becoming one of Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable’s disciples was met with much criticism.

You could almost say the adversity Xi Zihe faced as a result allowed him to mature.

Then one of the people asked, "Who was it?"

“Funny you should ask. It was actually the Qing Ze Sect’s Young Sect Master, Xi Huai."

Pfft!

The mouthful of tea in Chi Muyao’s mouth sprayed out. He pitifully tried to clean himself up for the longest time.

Xi Huai?!

Xi Huai wasn’t supposed to show up at Flower Casting Shadow, ah! What was he doing there?!

Oh right, he was still trapped in the cave with the original owner of Chi Muyao’s body in the original novel during this disciple selection. Since he was out, it was just like Xi Huai to go and make trouble.

How could you be a respectable villain if you didn’t?

"After coming out of the formation, the Nuan Yan Pavilion’s Heavenly Venerable was so angry when he recognised Xi Huai that his nose scrunched up! When he grilled Xi Huai on why he came to break into the formation, Xi Huai had only two words for him, “To play.”

The lobby was immediately filled with raucous laughter. After all, the people present leaned closer to the demonic, so the majority of them were on the side of Qing Ze Sect.

"So what happened to the grand selection with the Young Sect Master causing trouble?” Someone asked curiously.

Chi Muyao also looked over, his ears perked up attentively. He was also curious about that.

"They chose the next best disciple to study under Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable. Strangely enough, it was actually a waste with a three element spiritual root. Something something He…”

Chi Muyao anxiously reminded him, "Xi Zihe?"

"Yes, yes. Xi Zihe."

Chi Muyao breathed a sigh of relief. Looks like that plot point didn’t change in the end.

He was a little surprised that Xi Huai went to the grand disciple selection, but after further consideration, Xi Huai could’ve gone to search for him or to meet the second female lead.

The second female lead was also participating this year, and she fell for Xi Zihe at first sight after his outstanding performance.

Who knew if her impression of Xi Huai would change or not now that Xi Huai was the one who impressed everyone.

Regardless, Chi Muyao didn’t stay much longer. Having heard his fill of gossip, he left some coins as payment before leaving with his birdcage in tow.

After returning to the inn, he leisurely packed his belongings and checked out. His next destination was the Pu He Mountain Range, where the Yu Chong School was.

That was the sect he wanted to join.

The Pu He Yu Chong School was a sect that was removed from all conflicts. It was also a little sect that practically no one had heard of.

The people in this Sect weren’t obsessed with cultivation, nor were they infatuated with spiritual weapons. Their only interest was raising spirit beasts.

One word came to mind as soon as the Yu Chong School was brought up—poor.

All the savings of the Sect, including the spirit stones earned from selling spirit pets, were used to buy food for the spirit beasts! The numerous valuable spirit pets they kept each had a diet even more strict than humans did.

Everyone in this Sect was either a disciple with mediocre talent or a lover of little animals.

Even the Sect Master was only at the Golden Core stage, In fact, there were only two people in the entire Imperial Spirit Beast School whose cultivation level had passed the initial Golden Core stage.

The people there didn’t hold any grandiose ideals. They cultivated to whatever point they could and lived to whatever age Heaven permitted.

The Yu Chong School was very poor, so the mountain range they resided in wasn’t exactly a picturesque place with good feng shui either. As a result, not many people knew of the existence of such a Sect, and even fewer came to cause trouble.

The novel mentioned that one of the Sects completely unharmed by the great war waged between the forces of good and evil was the Yu Chong School.

Some of the Sect's spirit pets dug an underground cave, while others possessed the ability to conceal their presence. The Sect Master led the group of disciples and spirit pets to hide in the cave for a few years with occasional trips to replenish supplies. Only when the dust had settled did they come out again.

By that time the main villain, Xi Huai had already perished. And so, the Yu Chong School got back to their routine of again raising spirit pets and going hungry like nothing had ever happened.

Chi Muyao changed out of his mortal disguise into a set of enchanted vestments that were easy to move in. He made sure that nothing about his appearance could be traced back to the He Huan Sect.

The marks of tribulation on his hair and face had already disappeared at this point. He was now completely back to his original self.

When he arrived at the entrance of the Yu Chong School and knocked on the door, it was a long time before anyone came. A girl who looked fifteen or sixteen poked her head out to look at Chi Muyao. "Do you want something?"

"I want to join your Sect.”

“But the grand selection’s already over. Why’d you come now?” The little girl asked.

"I heard that you didn’t get any new disciples this time?”

Of course they didn’t. No aspiring youth would even think about joining their Imperial Spirit Beast School!

The girl pursed her lips and remained silent.

Chi Muyao took out a Qiankun乾坤袋 - it's a type of storage device often found in cultivation novels pouch and withdrew a giant bag of Hundred Flavour Grains from within. He gestured with it in the girl’s direction. “A gift I brought with me. Is this allowed?”

The girl's eyes lit up when she saw the Hundred Flavour Grains. She walked out entirely instead of peeking out from behind a barely opened door.

Hundred Flavour Grains was considered the highest quality spirit pet food used by the Yu Chong School because so many species of spirit pets could eat it. A bag of this size would save the Sect an entire month’s worth of spirit stones.

Noting her interest, Chi Muyao shook the Qiankun pouch in his hand again. "I bought an entire Qiankun pouch’s worth.”

A Qiankun pouch could hold up to thirty things, which meant there were thirty bags of Hundred Flavour Grains. That was enough to last the Yu Chong School two and a half years!

"Dad! Shifu! Quickly come and take in this disciple, ah! He brought Hundred Flavour Grains, thirty whole bags!” The girl jumped impatiently in place as she shouted towards the courtyard.

A scruffy-looking Golden Core stage cultivator soon walked out holding his pants up with his hands. "Thirty bags of Hundred Flavour Grains?"

He didn't seem to care about accepting a disciple at all.

The Golden Core stage cultivator looked at the bag of Hundred Flavour Grains, then he took the Qiankun pouch and examined that too. He confirmed that it was full of Hundred Flavour Grains.

After a brief hushed conversation with the girl, the Golden Core cultivator turned to smile at Chi Muyao. "I sense you have amazing latent talent perfectly suited for cultivating and raising spirit pets. I hereby accept you into the Yu Chong School today. Come, come, come. You can kowtow inside.”

Chi Muyao smiled and followed them in

From the time he realised he had transmigrated into a novel, he was already thinking about how to ensure his safety in the future.

During his shopping excursions on behalf of the He Huan Sect, he would also bring back some Hundred Flavour Grains. Over time, these small accumulations added up. And since Hundred Flavour Grains didn’t spoil when stored in a Qiankun pouch, he managed to save up so much after all these years.

This was also the reason he didn’t care about the earlier grand selection. After all, he could enter the Yu Chong School without even participating in that event.

The disciple ceremony was very haphazard, to say the least.

The scruffy cultivator accepted Chi Muyao as a disciple while the Sect Master and the girl huddled to stare at the Hundred Flavour Grains with glittering eyes. So far no one had even asked Chi Muyao what his name was.

The girl who opened the door was called Yi Qianxi. She was fifteen years old and would be Chi Muyao’s Little Shijie from now on.

The Yu Chong School’s Sect Master was called Yi Rang. He was Yi Qianxi’s father.

The Shifu Chi Muyao bribed to take him was also Yi Qianxi’s Shifu. He was the other Golden Core stage cultivator of this Sect, Hao Xia.

Chi Muyao lied that he was sixteen and managed to build his foundation by accident due to a fortuitous encounter.

He spun a story of how he was the unfavoured child of an immortal cultivation family who traveled here after his family’s descent from grace.

Hao Xia managed to sit through accepting his disciple before jumping up. “Gimme a bag already! Gimme! My precious Tutu’s still hungry!”

The Sect Master immediately shot him down. “These supplies have to be distributed logically.”

"Hey! Don’t I deserve an extra bag for taking in a disciple?”

Chi Muyao got up and faced them with a faint smile. "I can help with distribution.”

The three people who were still scrabbling turned to look at him in unison.

Chi Muyao reached out with his right hand palm side up. “Show me the Spirit Pet Register.”

"What Spirit Pet Register?" Hao Xia asked, bemused.

"Don't you have the number of spirit pets in the Sect, as well as their dietary and breeding requirements, written down somewhere?”

The trio looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language. The look in their eyes indicated they were completely lost.

Chi Muyao tried to maintain his faint smile as he asked again, “Then does the Sect keep any records? I’ll do the tally."

Hao Xia was a little embarrassed as he went to rummage around inside a room. Finally, he handed over a single book. “The back’s blank.”

Chi Muyao took the book before looking around at this complete mess of a Sect. He knew he had his work cut out for him.

The first six months after he joined the Yu Chong School were the busiest for Chi Muyao.

He had quite a lot of experience from working so long in the He Huan Sect’s Logistics Hall, but unfortunately his fellow disciples were completely lacking in the cooperation department. He could only mainly depend on himself and rely on others to run errands to bring the Yu Chong School’s affairs into order.

It took another six months to implement the system he designed. His fellow disciples were very unruly, and Chi Muyao's Shifu, Hao Xia might just be the unruliest of them all.

But Chi Muyao didn’t mind. He was prepared to slowly convince the other person.

Therefore, a year and a half after Chi Muyao's initiation into the Sect, everyone in the Yu Chong School, including his Shifu and the Sect Master, all fell into line under Chi Muyao’s rule.

No one knew when it started, but at some point people stopped going to the Sect Master when something happened in the Sect. Instead, the first person they called for was “Little Shidi!”

Even the Sect Master came to Chi Muyao when things got tough. "YaoyaoPet name for Chi Muyao. ah, the Nuan Yan Pavilion disciples are coming in two days to be guest speakers. What arrangements should we make?”

The Yu Chong School was one of the small sects supported by the Nuan Yan Pavilion. As a show of care, they would send disciples occasionally to be guest speakers and pass on their studies.

Rather than studies, it was more like Nuan Yuan Pavilion sent an above-average disciple over for a few days and you could ask them any questions you had on cultivation.

Chi Muyao put down his pen, looked up and asked politely, "Zhangmen-shishu, may I ask which disciple will be coming?”

"The same one who came a year ago, Yu Yanshu. But he’s already formed his core and has become an Immortal Venerable this time.”

Inexplicably, the Sect Master seemed a little frazzled. Probably because Yu Yanshu had formed his core while still in his twenties, signifying his immense talent. Perhaps he was nervous about having to meet a genius soon.

Chi Muyao was also familiar with this person, so he nodded. "Alright. Zhangmen-shishu needn’t worry. I’ll take care of things.”

"Good, good, good. You’re very capable, so I’ll leave it to you.” With that, the Sect Master left in a panic.

Chi Muyao blew on the ledger page he had just finished writing in. Then he got up and went to make arrangements for tomorrow.

He had a good impression of Yu Yanshu. After all, he was the second male lead of the novel.

How could the second male lead be a bad guy? They’re all good-natured, immensely talented sons of heaven. Upright and moral young men who silently protected the female lead.

Yu Yanshu possessed a single element water spiritual root, and his family was just as impressive. His father was on the cusp of becoming the first Nascent Soul cultivator of his generation, and his grandfather was the master of a branch of the Nuan Yan Pavilion. Yu Yanshu was also under the tutelage of the Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable, making him Xi Zihe’s little Shige.

With good looks, character, talent and family background, he was truly the best son-in-law candidate out there.

What a pity that the female lead always has to fall for the male lead. Yu Yanshu ended up a lonely old man. At least he got to be the Sect Master of the Nuan Yan Pavilion in the end.