The Daily Task of Preventing My Disciple from Turning to the Dark Side Chapter 6

Chapter 6

He lifted his disciple high into the air seven or eight times again. Mu Chen sighed, his junior disciple’s courage was just too limited. Clinging tightly around his neck, he had to set Gu Yunjue down, planning to slowly help him build his courage. The contents of the spatial ring spilled out with a clatter. Mu Chen intended to set up a spirit gathering array in Gu Yunjue’s room. Even with indulgence, there could be no laziness in cultivation.

Gu Yunjue observed his master throwing countless high-grade spirit stones onto the ground like rubbish. Then, Mu Chen meticulously selected a dozen or so of the largest ones and stacked them aside for future use, while the remaining ones were stored in his spatial ring. This action of his shifu amused Gu Yunjue, who found his little shifu’s style of doing things both simple and straightforward, which made him approachable without worrying about being manipulated.

“Shifu, where did you get all these spirit stones from?”

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After arranging the formation, the room became filled with even denser spiritual energy. As Yanyang Palace itself was built upon a spiritual vein, and Mu Chen’s room was situated in the liveliest part of the vein, now with the array in place, a gradually thickening layer of condensed spiritual mist formed beneath his feet.

“If you can’t establish your foundation by the age of twelve, I’ll throw you to the back mountain,” Mu Chen raised his gaze to Gu Yunjue, his tone meant to intimidate, “to feed the demonic beasts.” The most talented cultivators in nearly a thousand years had established their foundation by the age of twelve. Mu Chen’s requirement was undeniably strict. Yet, he believed his disciple was astonishingly gifted. As long as he set a goal, he would surely achieve it. There was no reason he wouldn’t.

Standing at the door, Jing Ting and Jing Ming, waiting to serve, had complex expressions upon hearing about the back mountain. At the same time, Jing Ming gestured to Gu Yunjue, “There’s a strange fluffy creature on the back mountain that’s best left alone!”

Mu Chen was an alchemist, fond of seeking out spirit herbs. In the process, he’d picked up countless peculiar spirit beasts, demons, and monsters. Anything furry, he’d bring back and keep on the back mountain.

Foremost among them was the beast that had now become the head of the spirit beasts, the demon cultivator Great Black Bird. When it was young, it resembled a ball of fur, and as it grew, it inexplicably transformed into a flying, chubby duck-like creature. Its name was “Best Avoided”. Its favorite pastime was conversing and boasting with people. Even if Jing Ting and Jing Ming made a mistake, Mu Chen couldn’t simply replace them like ordinary outer disciples. Unwilling to bother educating them himself, he put them together with that duck. The two of them had to endure listening to its hoarse voice blabbering non-stop for ten days or half a month. After a few occasions, Mu Chen found this method to be extraordinarily effective, so he highly recommended it. Hence, throughout the entire Yanyanghenever the topic of birds came up, everyone’s expressions would turn pale!

Gu Yunjue certainly knew about the bird his junior master had picked up. He also knew that the bird’s meat was of poor quality and tasted terrible when roasted. Of course, he didn’t slaughter the bird. Instead, he let that fluffy bird boast to him that it was an ancient divine beast that accidentally fell from the Divine Realm. Gu Yunjue even bet with it. When he lost the bet, he tearfully cut off a wing for it, only to witness it regrow.

Back then, in front of that bird, he roasted the wing and even generously shared half of it with the creature. When Mu Chen found out about this, he punished Gu Yunjue by confining him for a whole year. That was the first time his shifu punished him. Among all the punishments he had experienced, this mild one was enough to make his heart feel intoxicated.

However, that bird indeed was an ancient divine beast. His master seemed to have a knack for finding creatures with unusual bloodlines. Putting aside Jing Ting and Jing Ming, the two demon cultivators who had turned human, Mu Chen could even come across Three-Legged Golden Crows of the Abyss. This made him wonder what it was about Mu Chen that attracted these divine beasts. He didn’t know the reasons behind Mu Chen being sealed in the Soul Suppressing Tower in his previous life. Mu Chen wouldn’t tell him, so he had to investigate it gradually.

Pushing aside his memories, Gu Yunjue’s expression turned serious, “Within five years, I promise to establish my foundation.”

“Pff!” Jing Ming couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter. Mu Chen’s eyes also carried a smile. Seeing his little disciple trying to act profound with his hands behind his back was truly adorable.

“Shifu, did you laugh?” Noticing Mu Chen’s subtle change, Gu Yunjue hugged Mu Chen’s thigh and looked at him closely. He genuinely praised, “Shifu, you must look beautiful when you smile.”

Mu Chen furrowed his brows. It was the first time someone dared to call him beautiful. Yet, his junior disciple’s gaze was so clear, untainted by impurities. Mu Chen could only helplessly pat Gu Yunjue’s head and gently say, “Is that how you describe a man? Apart from practicing cultivation and studying characters, you’ll also learn fifty idioms every day. If you can’t master them, you’ll be punished to kneel.”

Gu Yunjue nodded with a smile, agreeing to whatever his shifu said.

Mu Chen ruffled his hair, finding his current junior disciple so well-behaved and endearing. Emptying out over a hundred spatial rings from his spatial ring, Mu Chen didn’t need to explain. It was clear that all these were exchanged for elixirs. After a clattering pile was formed, Mu Chen asked Gu Yunjue, “Which one do you like?”

“Can your disciple take whatever he likes? Or is it that whatever your disciple likes, Master will provide?” Gu Yunjue noticed Mu Chen sitting down, climbed onto his lap without a hint of psychological pressure, and sat in Mu Chen’s embrace. He pressed his small back firmly against Mu Chen’s chest, feeling the warmth behind him. The corners of his pale lips curled up in contentment. Tilting his head, he looked at Mu Chen’s extraordinary handsome face, his eyes showing an unexpected seriousness.

Spatial rings were difficult to create in the first place. They needed to hold such a large space within such a small ring, making them quite valuable. Regular cultivators used spatial pouches and spatial bracelets, yet here, his shifu had produced so many high-quality spatial rings for him to choose from. And his shifu even let this five-year-old child pick among them. His shifu’s concern for him was truly profound.

Looking at the little person in his arms, Mu Chen didn’t push him away. However, this little thing had quite the appetite. Did he really want to take away anything he liked? Was it because he had suffered too much before and now was afraid of being poor? Mu Chen nodded, thinking that this child was indeed scared of being poor, “You can tell your shifu what you want. As long as your shifu has it, he’ll give it to you.”

“Why is Shifu so good to disciple?” Gu Yunjue squinted his eyes, curiously asking.

Mu Chen hesitated briefly. He really didn’t know how to answer. Should he say it’s to keep you from going astray? To prevent us from both dying together as master and disciple? Clearly, these were not realistic explanations, and this young child wouldn’t understand them.

Gu Yunjue’s expression dimmed for a moment, but then he lifted the corners of his mouth, picked up a vermilion ring, and playfully raised his eyebrows, “Disciple wants this one, it looks nice.”

Mu Chen let out a sigh of relief and agreed. He took Gu Yunjue’s hand and taught him how to bond with the ring using a drop of blood, then placed it onto the small hand. Unseen by Mu Chen, the child’s eyes grew increasingly shadowed and his probing became more evident.

“From today onwards, you are my direct disciple,” Mu Chen lifted Gu Yunjue from his lap and said sternly, “Kneel properly.”

Gu Yunjue obeyed and knelt down, appearing genuinely attentive to his shifu’s instruction.

Mu Chen continued, “I don’t want you to be burdened with the well-being of the world, as living like that is too exhausting. I only hope you understand that all things have spirits. Don’t needlessly slaughter innocents or create unnecessary karmic debt.”

After Mu Chen finished speaking, he saw his little disciple tilting his face with a puzzled look, asking, “Shifu, what should a disciple do if he unintentionally kills innocents?”

Mu Chen lowered his head, his expression becoming somewhat complicated. “Then, I will take responsibility for cleaning up the mess.”

“That’s great. Even in death, a disciple should die by Shifu’s hand. I don’t want anyone else to lay a finger on me.” Gu Yunjue hadn’t finished speaking when he got a knock on his head from Mu Chen. This mischievous disciple of his, was he still trying to turn bad?

Mu Chen understood that he had significant flaws in his personality. The environment he grew up in as a child made him distrustful of everyone. It also made him cherish every person he cared about. He was the same before he was reborn. So many people wanted to kill Gu Yunjue, but he claimed that cleaning up was his duty and no one else’s. This was the fuse that led those pseudo-noble figures of the Immortal Realm to direct their anger at him.

Seeing his current disciple with a mischievous smile, Mu Chen took out a small whip from his spatial ring and snapped it against the table with a crack. This unruly disciple needed proper discipline. That’s why he had prepared this earlier when he went out.

Gu Yunjue looked at the small whip, immediately feeling that his future circumstances… tsk.

Mu Chen noticed the look of “fear” on his disciple’s face. He instinctively straightened his back, adopting the posture of a stern teacher, and began to educate, “In addition to the points mentioned earlier, I have two rules: First, you must respect and obey your shifu. Listen to everything your shifu says; everything your shifu says is correct. Second, you cannot be bullied. Cultivation is a struggle against fate, like rowing upstream. If you don’t advance, you’ll regress. If you’re someone who lets others bully you without fighting back, you’re a waste. Return to the mundane world to herd cattle and farm. The rest of the rules will be added as I remember them.” To put it simply, all these rules were created by Mu Chen himself.

“Shifu, what about the rules of the sect?”

“Hmph, you don’t need to worry about those things. Just listen to your shifu,” which implied: he was the rule!

Gu Yunjue smiled as he looked at Mu Chen, discovering for the first time how willful his little shifu could be. He couldn’t help but admire him even more.

Mu Chen also lowered his head to look at his little disciple. He found the child gazing at him with an “admiring” look, his eyes narrowed to slits. He felt pleased in his heart. His little disciple was really easy to please and guide. With proper education, he would definitely not go astray.

Mu Chen now suspected that his junior disciple had received ill-treatment from Yue Mingze before his rebirth. Otherwise, how could such a cute child become so twisted and bloodthirsty? Early education was crucial, and Yue Mingze was a brat himself. Raising a child was definitely not his forte!

At this moment, Sect head Yue, who was undoubtedly a failure at raising children, received an invitation. After reading it, he thought about Mu Chen’s extraordinarily handsome face. He trembled while pinching his fingers to calculate the probability of being beaten up if he directly informed Mu Chen about what was about to happen…

Unaware of what was about to transpire, Mu Chen took out the Soul-Protecting Bell, feeling content, and said to his little disciple, “Alright, you’ve knelt and paid your respects. This is a protective treasure that your master has found for you.” He then contemplated where to hang it on Gu Yunjue. In his hair? Around his neck? On his wrist? Waist? Or maybe his ankle?

Gu Yunjue saw the familiar bell and his pupils abruptly contracted. The Soul-Protecting Bell and the Cangli Sword were the spiritual tools he frequently used in his previous life. One should be within the Chongyun Sect’s secret realm, and the other should be in the place where he passed down his demonic techniques. So, why were they now in his shifu’s hands?

Mu Chen gave the bell a little shake, intending to put it around his disciple’s neck. However, his hand was caught by his junior disciple.

“Shifu, don’t you think it’s not very appropriate to hang it here?” Gu Yunjue suppressed his shock and helplessly pinched Mu Chen’s hand. The slender and fair fingers were exquisite, even the knuckles were perfectly formed. Despite their beauty, the location to hang the bell was not right!

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