Chen Lan supported Li Meng as they entered the room, and the door closed behind them with a soft but definitive thud.

Time seemed to blur within the secluded chamber. The air grew thick with a heady mixture of floral perfume and something warmer, more primal. Soft rustles of silk whispered secrets against skin, punctuated by breathy sighs that melted into the dim light. Chen Lan, ever the vixen, was a study in deliberate seduction—her movements fluid and inviting, her voice a honeyed murmur designed to ensnare. For Li Meng, an ancient cultivator with the mind of a shrewd old fox trapped in a failing body, the experience was a surreal blend of distant memories and immediate, desperate sensation.

Half an hour later, a soft click echoed as the door was unlatched from within. Li Meng emerged first, followed closely by Chen Lan. A faint blush colored Chen Lan’s cheeks, and a newfound, languid charm flickered in the depths of her eyes.

They settled at the stone tea table in the courtyard. With a casual flick of his sleeve, Li Meng summoned two cups of tea from the storage pouch at his waist, setting them gently on the table. He lifted his cup and took a small sip.

[Heavenly Dao System Activated] [Corresponding “Divine Abilities” Awakening] [Heavenly Eye: Datafication of All Things] [Red String of Fate: Gain Sub-profession XP by Increasing Affection of the Opposite Sex] [Heavenly Dao Insight: Your Comprehension Aligns with Heaven and Earth] [Treasure Pavilion: Sub-profession Repository]

The sudden mechanical voice in his mind startled Li Meng so badly that his hand trembled, nearly spilling the hot tea.

“Senior Brother, are you alright?” Chen Lan asked curiously, noticing his strange expression as she lifted her own cup.

Li Meng looked up and swept his gaze over Junior Sister Chen.

[Name: Chen Lan] [Age: 51] [Luck: 500] [Cultivation: Peak Qi Condensation] [Aptitude: Gold-Water Dual Spirit Roots] [Affection: -15]

The Heavenly Dao System? It was as if he had opened a celestial eye. He could suddenly see Chen Lan’s information laid bare before him.

Damn it all! You show up only now?

He was practically at death’s door before the system decided to grace him with its presence. Li Meng was momentarily stunned by this abrupt, overwhelming surprise.

It took him a good while to calm the frantic excitement pounding in his chest. A faint smile finally touched his lips. With another flick of his sleeve, several jade bottles flew from his storage pouch and landed neatly on the tea table—Prime Solidifying Pills and Prime Nurturing Pills, all valuable medicines for consolidating one’s foundation.

“Junior Sister, cultivate well and don’t be impatient. If you cannot find the Golden Sun Mushroom, this Senior Brother will think of a way. Within two years, I will deliver a Foundation Pill into your hands.”

Chen Lan looked at Senior Brother Li sitting across from her with a complex expression. Senior Brother Li was well-liked among the Outer Disciples. He was a man of his word who never went back on a promise. He purchased spirit herbs from Outer Disciples at standard Market City prices, yet sold them pills at only seventy percent of the market rate. Even the most arrogant Outer Disciples were willing to give Senior Brother Li face. Conflicts among Outer Disciples never seemed to affect him, and even the Foundation Establishment Deacons and Elders maintained close relations with him.

Chen Lan collected the pills from the table. They were a gift from Senior Brother Li. She had no reason to refuse, nor would she.

“Senior Brother, this Junior Sister takes her leave!”

Chen Lan turned and walked away, the alluring curve of her waist swaying gently with each step. Li Meng watched her retreating back with a beaming smile.

“Junior Sister, are you free tonight?”

Chen Lan stumbled, almost tripping over her own feet. “Y-yes… I am!”

She quickened her pace, hurriedly opened the wicker gate, and stepped out. Her graceful figure gradually vanished down the small path winding through the bamboo forest.

[+35 Affection] [+100 Sub-profession XP] [All Sub-professions Advanced to First Grade]

The affection had turned positive? Although he gained 35 points, since Junior Sister Chen’s initial affection was negative (-15), the net result was a positive 20. Those 20 points yielded 100 Sub-profession XP. That meant each point of positive affection translated to 5 points of Sub-profession XP.

Sub-profession XP? Li Meng glanced at his own information panel.

[Name: Li Meng] [Age: 78] [Luck: 50] [Cultivation: Qi Condensation Sixth Layer] [Aptitude: Five Spirit Roots (Waste Body)] [Alchemy: First Grade Alchemist] [Talismans: First Grade Talisman Master] [Artifact Refining: First Grade Artifact Refiner] [Formations: First Grade Formation Master] [Alchemy XP: 25/500] [Talisman XP: 25/500] [Artifact Refining XP: 25/500] [Formation XP: 25/500]

“Huh? I’ve gained several sub-professions?” Li Meng, reclining in his chair, chuckled softly, a somewhat lecherous grin spreading across his face. His heart swelled with joy. Just when all hope seemed lost, a new path had opened before him.

“Ah, but this is the Joyous Union Sect after all,” he sighed inwardly with regret. “What a fool I was back then, living my whole life as an old virgin. If I had found a Dao Companion in my youth, I might have activated this system long ago and soared to greatness.”

He felt a pang of annoyance at himself. How could he have believed such nonsense from others? If he had behaved like a normal male disciple of the Joyous Union Sect, he would have risen to prominence ages ago.

Then again, finding a Dao Companion wasn’t as simple as wishing for one. With his Waste Spirit Roots, nobody had looked twice at him in his youth. By the time he grew old, he had simply given up, no longer entertaining such thoughts.

The Joyous Union Sect in the State of Zhao wasn’t a demonic sect like those often depicted in stories—at least not entirely. It was a proper orthodox sect… mostly. It walked the line between righteousness and unorthodoxy, leaning slightly towards the former. Its teachings emphasized the harmony of Yin and Yang and following the natural Dao.

Male disciples primarily cultivated fragments of the Yellow Emperor Inner Canon. Female disciples primarily cultivated the Dragon Attraction Art.

Because Dual Cultivation techniques benefited female cultivators the most, since its founding, the Joyous Union Sect had always been dominated by women. The Sect Master and Supreme Elders were almost exclusively female. While male cultivators existed, their numbers were far lower, and their status was significantly beneath that of their female counterparts. Therefore, when it came to choosing Dao Companions, the power of selection usually lay with the female cultivator.

Since male disciples often struggled to keep pace with their female partners’ cultivation speed, very few Dao Companion pairs within the Joyous Union Sect lasted long-term. Once an Outer Disciple sister achieved Foundation Establishment and her partner failed to do so, she would typically seek a new companion upon becoming an Inner Disciple.

Some sentimental female disciples might wait for their partners for a time, but that waiting period was always limited. To keep up with their Dao Companion’s progress, male disciples required vast quantities of pills and spirit stones to aid their cultivation.

Of course, even within the Joyous Union Sect, there were female disciples who remained chaste and focused solely on cultivation. These were usually True Disciples under Supreme Elders. They would begin cultivating under their master’s guidance from a very young age. Only upon reaching Peak Golden Core (implied step before Nascent Soul) would they utilize a “Cauldron” to attempt forming their Nascent Soul. And the “Cauldron” for such True Disciples would only ever be another True Disciple.

The Joyous Union Sect was an orthodox sect; the “Cauldron” relationship was bidirectional. Female cultivators used their partner’s pure Yang energy to break through bottlenecks, while male cultivators benefited from their partner’s primal Yin essence. The loss suffered by the male cultivator never outweighed his gains. Many male cultivators were quite willing to become such “Cauldrons.”

This led to roughly eighty percent of Dao Companion relationships within the sect being temporary arrangements. True love wasn’t unheard of—it just could be counted on one hand.

“So how do I improve my cultivation? Rely on pills?”

“Let’s test this system’s capabilities!”

Li Meng stood up and hurried back inside his house. Entering his alchemy room, he sat cross-legged on the cushion beside his furnace. He focused his mind and regulated his breathing.

His hands formed a series of seals. Five-colored spiritual power immediately erupted from his body, transforming into a multicolored torrent that poured into the alchemy furnace. The furnace ignited with roaring flames in response. With a wave of his hand, over ten hundred-year-old spirit plants flew from his storage pouch and into the furnace, blazing with mana-fueled true fire.

“Huh? Why is it so easy this time?”

The process of liquefying the ingredients proceeded with astonishing smoothness—so smooth it shocked Li Meng. In the past, alchemy had been grueling work. The steps of liquefaction and pill condensation consumed enormous amounts of mental strength and Mana.

But today, refining pills felt exceptionally effortless. His Mana consumption was lower, and his mental exertion was significantly reduced.

Half an hour later.

“Rise!”

Li Meng waved his hand. Over ten pills radiating a rich medicinal fragrance flew out of the furnace, hovering in mid-air before him.

“F-Flawless Quality?”

Staring at the fourteen crystal-clear pills before him, Li Meng’s face showed shock and disbelief.

Pills were divided into nine grades, each with four quality levels: Inferior, Medium, Superior, and Flawless. To refine Flawless Quality pills was the lifelong pursuit of any Alchemist. But achieving Flawless Quality had nothing to do with one’s cultivation level. Even someone with world-shaking power couldn’t guarantee it. It required an insight that resonated with Heaven and Earth itself.

“This… this is incredible!”

Unbridled joy spread across Li Meng’s face. With Flawless pills at his disposal, his path forward in cultivation was secured.

“Haha! Foundation Establishment… Foundation Establishment…”

In his excitement, Li Meng’s expression bordered on ferocious zeal. At this moment, he felt brimming with confidence for the future ahead.

“Continue refining!”

He would refine another batch—Spirit Tempering Pills—to thoroughly cleanse the accumulated Pill Poison from within his body.

With another wave of his hand, the fourteen first-grade Flawless Prime Nurturing Pills were stored away into his pouch.

In the time that followed, Li Meng did nothing but refine pills. He was old; his Lifespan Limit approached. To survive, he had to desperately refine, consume, and cultivate. Otherwise, this sudden surprise would be nothing more than a fleeting bloom before the end.

Nightfall arrived swiftly.

The weather tonight was fine, a full moon hanging high in the sky—a perfect night for dark deeds under the cover of darkness where none would know.

A dark figure rode a sword through the air, descending gracefully into the courtyard from above. Her form landed as lightly as an immortal fairy.

“Is Senior Brother Li asleep already?”

The newcomer was Chen Lan, clad once more in her cyan feathered dress. Seeing the house dark and silent inside, she whispered quietly as she approached the door.

Just as she reached out to knock—

Creak!

The door swung open from within. A hand shot out, grabbed Chen Lan’s wrist, and pulled her forcefully inside.

The door slammed shut behind them.