Chapter 626 - 627: Before I Was an Immortal, I Was Quite Like You
Li Yingling looked at Zhang Miaoyu, whose expression was clearly somewhat off. Right now, she had the look of a child desperately seeking praise — the pitiful, hopeful eyes of someone who had finally earned recognition after enduring endless hardship.
Zhang Miaoyu’s big, dewy eyes stared straight at Li Yingling, her mouth twisted into a strange angle that was half-smile, half-cry.
Li Yingling thought carefully. Aside from her master and her junior brothers and sisters, she rarely praised anyone, and her praise for Zhang Miaoyu even more so.
Over all these years, she could count the instances on one hand.
It wasn’t that Li Yingling was stingy with compliments — it was that many of the tasks she assigned were, to her, so difficult that praise was hard to give.
Getting it done was simply expected; messing it up meant genuine incompetence.
They weren’t even worth Li Yingling’s energy to scold — after all, there was no point in discussing with a waste why they were waste.
The occasional praise was only meant to motivate, but since she was close to Zhang Miaoyu, Li Yingling had somewhat instinctively excluded her from that kind of morale-boosting encouragement.
Looking at Zhang Miaoyu’s expression right now, Li Yingling pondered briefly, then decided to properly reward her.
As for the reward...
Li Yingling thought for a moment, then picked up a jade token and passed it to the still-touched Zhang Miaoyu with spiritual energy, clearing her throat lightly.
"Given your recent excellent performance, I have a simple errand for you."
"The Three Sects have jointly ordered a hunt for Celestial Demons, with message points set up everywhere for ordinary cultivators. After all, the Eastern Divine Continent is vast — some casual cultivator might have seen something, and it also serves as a deterrent to fleeing Celestial Demons."
"The jade token marks one of the message-collection points. I hear there’s some intelligence there. Withdraw spirit stones as you see fit — take extra, and distribute rewards for useful information."
"How you give it, how you handle it — that’s your call."
Li Yingling raised an eyebrow at Zhang Miaoyu as she spoke, as if hinting at something. "You’re an Outer Sect Elder of our sect now. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say you’re returning home in glory."
"Huh?" Zhang Miaoyu’s attentive expression froze, and she looked at Li Yingling in confusion at the completely unrelated statement.
What did doing a mission have to do with returning home in glory?
Li Yingling sighed at Zhang Miaoyu’s suddenly dim expression and said plainly, "Didn’t there used to be rumors that you got beaten to death for running your mouth? I wanted you to clear that up last time but it didn’t work out. This time, while you’re at it, go clear that up too."
"Naturally, you should also show the bearing of an Outer Sect Elder of our sect, so our sect’s reputation spreads a bit further. When you’re out there, don’t lose face, and don’t let those casual cultivators keep spreading nonsense about you getting beaten to death."
Zhang Miaoyu nodded in understanding. "Got it."
Put that way, Zhang Miaoyu naturally understood Li Yingling’s meaning — go show off a bit.
Zhang Miaoyu stood there for a moment, looking like she wanted to say something but held back.
"What? Do you need more support?" Li Yingling raised an eyebrow. "There are cultivators from the Three Sects over there. Once you arrive, you can take charge and direct them. If it really comes to a fight, I’ll back you up."
Zhang Miaoyu hurriedly shook her head. "No, it’s just — we came here in secret. If I go over openly now, the news will definitely reach the wrong ears... Won’t that interfere with the team leader’s plans?"
Li Yingling smiled. "Don’t worry, it won’t. The time is right. We should show our hand and let them know we’re prepared. That’s a kind of deterrence too."
Only then did Zhang Miaoyu slowly nod, her hand gripping the jade token tightly.
She had struggled all the way from being a small-time casual cultivator. The hardship along the way was something only Zhang Miaoyu herself truly understood.
She had practically risked her life to reach Golden Core.
Back then, all those boasts about how she was better than Daoist Yuyang’s disciples, how the Eighteen Immortal Sects’ disciples were nothing special — just piles of resources —
The real reason was simply envy.
Envy that they could get resources without fighting or facing death.
Envy that their powerful backgrounds inspired awe and fear without even trying.
Unlike her, alone with no one to trust.
But now...
Zhang Miaoyu felt somewhat dazed — had she become the kind of major-sect cultivator that others envied?
Had she fulfilled... at least part of what she used to brag about back then?
Eastern Divine Continent, Liulu Tower.
A calm river flowed gently, the setting sun painting the water surface a fiery red.
Liulu Tower stood in the very center of the wide river.
Small boats drifted around, but all kept far away, not daring to approach.
The reason was simple — cultivators called this building Liulu Tower, but among mortals its name was — Divine Immortal Tower.
The tower was not open to mortals; it only received cultivators.
But because this stretch of river was calm, without great winds or waves, full of large fish, and its waters could irrigate the surrounding rice paddies — it was genuinely fertile land — many mortals had lived here for generations.
Compared to when Liulu Tower was built, the mortals living here had clearly been established far longer.
The cultivators who built this tower had not driven away the mortals who had lived here for generations.
So Liulu Tower was perhaps the only immortal tower where the distance between immortals and mortals was the shortest.
Mortals had an innate, pure fear of cultivators who could summon wind and rain.
Aside from daydreaming youths who fancied themselves exceptionally talented and tried to sneak into the Divine Immortal Tower hoping a great cultivator would take them as disciples, most people simply kept their distance.
After all, the immortals of Divine Immortal Tower had fed living people to the fish before, and not just a few times.
No one debated right and wrong — mortals couldn’t reason with immortals, after all.
For the mortals who made their living here, the best course of action was simply to stay as far from the tower as possible.
When immortals flew overhead, don’t look up — look down at the river instead.
There were also cases of mortals being taken as disciples by cultivators, but those were rare. And there were even more rumors that those taken as disciples were secretly drained dry by the immortals, their bodies turned into nourishment.
If you can’t fight them, you can only hide.
Fishing boats sang in the evening glow, a lone boat beneath the setting sun.
From time to time, immortals would skim the water’s surface or soar into the sky.
Today, cultivators visiting Liulu Tower came with increasing frequency, as if some great event had occurred.
A dark-skinned girl with freckles across her face held a boat pole, her fishing nets resting in the small boat moored by the shore. She looked down at the water’s surface, watching the reflection of an immortal flying into the Divine Immortal Tower.
She remembered the instructions — wait until the immortals have all flown past, then go fish in the river.
The next moment, the small boat suddenly rocked.
The dark-skinned girl was startled and looked back.
She saw a woman in luxurious clothes, with delicate features, sitting naturally in her small boat, wearing a gentle smile as she looked the girl up and down.
"How much for a boat ride to that tower?"
Zhang Miaoyu asked with a smile.
The dark-skinned girl looked nervous. After a moment of silence, beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She wasn’t stupid — she naturally understood that the extraordinarily beautiful woman sitting in her boat was most likely an immortal too.
She didn’t dare keep the gently smiling immortal waiting, so she could only answer in a small, tactful voice:
"That’s a place only for immortals like yourself. It’s not somewhere someone like me can go."
Zhang Miaoyu looked at the dark-skinned girl and asked with a smile, "What’s your name?"
"Ye Wanzhou..."
"Nice name. Before I was an immortal... I was quite like you."
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