Does anyone actually Believes That My Master Is A Mortal?

Within the Wayless Sect's residence on the mountain peak, inside the grand hall.

Su Xi stood silently in place.

The words of her Respected Master echoed incessantly in her mind.

Average... utterly average...

Average... utterly average...

And then he just hopped onto a dragon...

She felt that her Respected Master,

how should she put it, had a rather high cool factor.

"Xi Er? What's on your mind? Are you scared? Don't be afraid, with your Respected Master here, no one can lay a finger on you."

Chu Yuan, seeing Su Xi's silent demeanor, thought she was frightened by the sudden transition from begging for a living to coming into this grand hall, so he spoke gently to comfort her.

"Respected Master, the, the disciple is fine, thank you for your concern!"

Su Xi quickly returned to her senses.

Feeling the warmth from her Respected Master's concern, she couldn't help but be moved.

It had been a long time since anyone had cared for her.

"Well, Xi Er, even though we haven't returned to our sect yet, your teacher can still teach you some of the most basic things. Are you willing to learn?"

Chu Yuan asked with a smile.

"The disciple is willing!"

Su Xi nodded her head in haste.

"Okay, but before I teach you, I have to ask you something first. What path of cultivation do you want to follow?"

Chu Yuan asked casually with one hand behind his back.

"Ah? Respected Master, what is the Great Dao?"

Su Xi asked blankly.

"What is the Great Dao? Now that's getting to the heart of the matter. The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. All things in heaven and earth are within the Dao. And where does this Dao come from? It is said that..."

Chu Yuan was just about to begin his usual bluff.

His hand was already emerging from the sleeve of his robe.

But then he realized that Su Xi was standing there with a dazed and cute expression, looking as if she were listening to an arcane text, clearly not understanding a word.

Was this a classic case of the blind leading the blind???

If she doesn't understand, there's not even a hint of awe, so what's the point of all his bluster...

Chu Yuan immediately felt uncomfortable.

Although his goal was just to bamboozle his disciple, he also quite enjoyed the process of doing so.

But...

But this disciple couldn't understand anything at all.

However, this was also a good thing.

The disciple was too foolish, with no chance of becoming adept, which was advantageous for him.

Thinking this, Chu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Xi Er, you don't understand?"

Chu Yuan started slowly.

"Respected Master, the disciple is dull-witted and does not understand,"

Su Xi said, anxiety written all over her dirty little face.

She was terrified that her stupidity would anger her Respected Master.

"That's alright, no worries. If you don't understand, then you don't. Your teacher will guide you slowly."

Chu Yuan walked up to her and gently patted Su Xi's somewhat disheveled little head.

"The disciple thanks the Respected Master!!"

Su Xi said repeatedly. Your journey continues with empire

"Well, since you still don't understand the Great Dao, let me simplify it for you. When I asked what you want to cultivate, I was asking what you want to focus on for your cultivation. For example, your senior fellow disciples, your eldest senior brother practices Cultivation of the Sword, your second senior brother works on Cultivation of Formations, your third senior brother dedicates himself to Cultivation of the Physical Body, and your fourth senior sister practices... playing chess."

Chu Yuan said indifferently.

Upon hearing this,

Su Xi finally understood what Chu Yuan meant and hesitated.

She seemed to have something to say but was too terrified to speak.

She was torn.

"Xi Er, whatever you want to say, just say it boldly. It's okay, there are three thousand paths to the Great Dao, you can cultivate any path you wish,"

Chu Yuan said with a smile.

In his heart, though, he was muttering to himself.

What exactly did this disciple want to cultivate?

He hoped it wouldn't be something too serious, like Artifact Refining or Alchemy; she actually might have a shot at succeeding in those.

"Respected Master, can the disciple cultivate in this way?"

After hearing her Respected Master's words,

Su Xi tremulously took out a piece of tattered cloth from her bosom.

The cloth was slowly unfolded to reveal the item inside.

Chu Yuan looked up and was taken aback for a moment.

It was a piece of wood?

No.

That was something in the shape of a human...

A puppet???

But this puppet was a little odd.

It was in a mess, looking somewhat unsightly.

"Xi Er, you want this... um, puppet, to use the puppet for your cultivation path, right?"

Chu Yuan pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Can the Respected Master approve?"

Su Xi asked nervously.

"A path of puppetry, huh? A puppet..."

Chu Yuan felt a mix of glee and uncertainty within him.

He was delighted because using a puppet, something as trivial as a toy, for cultivation, was bound to lead to failure...

The uncertainty stemmed from not knowing how to hype up puppetry...

A puppet—how could he spin that?

Without blowing some hot air, how could he prove that this path was exceptional?

Chu Yuan racked his brains but couldn't come up with anything.

How should he sell this path?

What was there to hype about a puppet...

"Respected Master, does that mean it's not possible? If it's not, I can... I can choose something else,"

Su Xi hurriedly said, seeing Chu Yuan frown.

"It's possible, of course it's possible. Just hold on, let your teacher think this through a bit more."

Chu Yuan continued to consider.

He had to spin something from a puppet.

Puppetry?

What's there to spin about puppetry?

Such a common name.

But indeed, puppetry could be spun a bit, as it involved controlling puppets with strings. He could bluff the disciple from this angle.

However, simply talking about the path of puppets was way too lowbrow.

Puppetry, puppetry...

He remembered that puppetry also had another name, marionette play, right?

With that thought, Chu Yuan was momentarily stunned, then suddenly enlightened.

Marionette play!

Marionettes!

Now he knew how to spin it.

If he were to talk solely about puppetry, he really wouldn't know what to say.

But switch to marionettes, wouldn't the tone just soar upwards?

Chu Yuan's eyes brightened, and he looked at Su Xi, about to speak...