The task issued by the Founding Master suddenly changed from voice to text, which was probably due to a "karmic" coincidence.
The Second unfolded his paper slip first and read: "Go out to Yinghai Sea, find Liutan, after reaching the island, bring back the first thing you see to Shuling Mountain."
Senior Brother Cai Xing clicked his tongue twice and shook his head, saying: "Guo Er, your luck is really not good. How did you end up with such a punishment?"
Because Xin Xiu would occasionally call The Second "Guo Er" as a joke, many of their fellow disciples who were familiar with them would call The Second this as well.
"Liutan is in Yinghai Sea. The sea is so vast that even ordinary cultivators find it difficult to cross. Liutan Island is also hard to find as its location is not fixed. The people on the island are extremely hostile to outsiders. It's said there's a clan on the island skilled in evil and strange magic, very difficult to deal with. I remember a senior brother who once passed by Liutan Island told us he only stayed there for a day before leaving in a mess. That senior brother had already been cultivating for over a hundred years before he went to Liutan. You've only been here for three years, how did you end up with such a difficult punishment?"
As soon as Senior Brother Cai Xing finished speaking, Xin Xiu read out her own paper slip: "Deliver messages to the immortal caves in Xian Xi, Jiu Wu, and Xiang Mao. Time limit... ten years?"
Senior Brother Cai Xing, who had just finished explaining how difficult The Second's task was, silently patted Xin Xiu's shoulder. He didn't even want to explain further, only saying: "Well, I thought Guo Er had it tough, but it turns out Xiu'er has it even tougher."
Is her task really that difficult? Xin Xiu pondered. Her task seemed to be just delivering messages. She remembered playing online games before, where characters leaving the newbie village would have message delivery quests. It's just a newbie task of delivering messages, how difficult could it be?
Senior Brother Cai Xing only had one thing to say about her attitude: "Xiu'er, you're like a newborn calf not afraid of tigers."
Xin Xiu felt this phrase was familiar, as if it wasn't the first time someone had said this to her. In fact, people are strange. They're often afraid of something because they don't understand it, but sometimes they're completely unafraid of something also because they don't understand it.
They went to find their other companions. Since they had received these paper slips, the others must have gotten them too. The three youngest of the nine, because they had never participated in their activities behind the mountain, didn't have this three-year task. Everyone else hadn't escaped punishment.
The Third's task was to go to Zhong Shan to find a kind of snow flower. Her paper slip also had an extra flower pattern on it. Xin Xiu looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure out what the hell this stick figure was supposed to be.
"This is a flower? Why does this root look so much like a hand?"
"This is called a snow spirit flower. It's a kind of snow woman flower that has transformed after becoming a spirit. It can no longer be considered an ordinary thing, more like a demon," The Third's chubby senior brother explained.
The thin senior brother was worried: "This flower isn't hard to find, but it's too difficult to catch. Senior Sister Mei Xi, why don't we brothers accompany you?"
The Third was as stubborn and serious as ever: "No need, Senior Brother. Since this is a punishment given by the Founding Master, I should go and complete it myself. If I let you brothers help me, wouldn't I be taking advantage? That's too unfair."
The two senior brothers sighed at each other, muttering: "You're all still so young. Usually, the first punishment is just planting bamboo. Why are yours different? I don't know what the Founding Master is thinking."
Compared to the three older brothers and sisters, The Fourth's task wasn't too difficult, but it was a bit strange.
There's a country in the mortal world called the Hou Kingdom, a small country sandwiched between several large countries, very ordinary. The Fourth's task was to go to this Hou Kingdom and be the most ordinary wall-building craftsman for three years.
"My master only taught me to make ordinary mechanisms, not how to build walls," The Fourth held his paper slip, dumbfounded, holding his head and sighing deeply.
The Second added a sentence: "Look at this 'ordinary', it means you can only honestly build walls, you can't use magic to conjure up a wall all at once, hahaha!"
The Fourth jumped up and started wrestling with him, "Ahhh, you're laughing at me!"
As for The Fifth, his aptitude was the best among them, and now it seemed he was going to focus on the medical path. Therefore, his task was also related to medicine - he had to go to the mortal world and save a hundred lives.
This "saving lives" was different from "treating illnesses". Saving a hundred lives could be said to be very difficult. His task didn't even have a time limit. Xin Xiu felt that The Fifth's task was probably several times harder than her own. If this was the case, the difficulty of the punishments wasn't based on how many times they had trespassed behind the mountain at all.
"The Founding Master must have his reasons for setting it up this way, don't worry," Uncle Master Jingchengzi, as The Fifth's master, was very carefree. He said to his disciple: "Ai Cao, the mortal world is different from Shuling Mountain. Among the crowds, hearing the same voices, people can easily be assimilated by anger or pain, thus losing their original heart. You must remember who you are and what you're supposed to do."
"I will be watching over you. Go now, you came from the mortal world, it's time for you to go back and walk through it again."
The Fifth's expression was somewhat hesitant and uneasy, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn't say anything, just pressed his lips together and nodded in agreement.
As for the last one, The Sixth, her task was to go to the famous Nine Lords Academy in the Hu Kingdom of the mortal world and be a teacher for nine years.
The Sixth turned to look at her master, unconsciously revealing a pleading expression. After all, she was not yet fifteen years old. Suddenly hearing that she had to go be a teacher, and at the Nine Lords Academy no less - a place so famous that even she had heard of it in her former broken village - naturally made her very anxious.
"I've only learned from master for three years and still don't understand anything. How can I go there to be a teacher..." She still remembered the most capable teacher in her former village, who didn't dare to have any delusions about the Nine Lords Academy. She could only look up to it in admiration. Even though her status had changed now, that inherent reverence still existed. The limitations brought by one's birth are indeed difficult to easily shake off.
Her master, Elder Master Bu Suanzi, raised the scroll in his hand and tapped her forehead, saying, "This Nine Lords Academy was originally founded by me and has continued to this day, with many flaws. You are my personal disciple, going there on my behalf. What's wrong with that? Just go and teach as you see fit."
In these three years, apart from the few new disciples, only Senior Uncle Bo Luan was an "old hand" among those who trespassed behind the mountain. After all, the other disciples were all older and no longer enjoyed this activity.
Seeing the varied tasks of his junior disciples, Senior Uncle Bo Luan eagerly opened his own paper slip, hoping to see an interesting task. However, it read: "Plant three mountains full of purple bamboo."
Senior Uncle Bo Luan: "..."
"In the past, the tasks for junior disciples were interesting, only mine was planting trees, which was very dull. Now that new junior disciples have arrived, their tasks are even more interesting, while I'm still planting trees as before. It's clear that master is deliberately not letting me be happy. I won't do it!" He suddenly threw a tantrum, crumpled the small paper slip into a ball, and angrily threw it on the ground.
Xin Xiu: ... Uncle, are you Jia Baoyu?
The tantrum-throwing Senior Uncle Bo Luan was pecked hard on the head by the little white birds delivering messages. Xin Xiu saw that if their punishments couldn't be exchanged, Senior Uncle Bo Luan would probably try to swap punishment tasks with them.
After this round of revelations, it turned out that all of them had to leave Shuling Mountain.
Xin Xiu returned to Secluded Bamboo Mountain with her paper slip and found that her master had come out of the refining furnace and was waiting for her in the courtyard.
"Master, I received the message from the Founding Master," she waved the paper slip in her hand. "It's quite simple, I need to deliver messages to three places, and the time limit is especially long." Ten years, she estimated she wouldn't need that long.
Shentu Yu nodded: "I already know. Fortunately, the spirit tool I've been refining for you is finally completed before you go down the mountain."
This spirit tool that could nurture a "spirit" had taken him nearly three years to refine. Unlike those ordinary spirit tools with simple functions, this one specially refined for his disciple would "grow". Although it couldn't compare to the human body he had successfully refined after decades, it could still rank in the top ten among the spirit tools he had refined.
In fact, if time had allowed, Shentu Yu would have wanted to modify some more parts to make it even more perfect. Unfortunately, time was running out, so he had to give it to his disciple first, letting this spirit tool accompany her down the mountain.
Xin Xiu's eyes lit up, and she asked expectantly: "What is it?" She didn't know that Shentu Yu had spent three years refining this spirit tool, thinking it was just the down-the-mountain luggage he had prepared for her. She thought her master was indeed the kind of person who did more than he said, quietly preparing a gift for her without saying a word.
Shentu Yu extended his hand, revealing a palm-sized Iron-Eating Spirit Beast.
Xin Xiu: "A... charm?"
The panda figurine looked adorably lifelike, as if her panda mother had been shrunk to scale. She took the panda charm from her master's hand, but after barely glancing at it, she suddenly felt it grow heavier. The panda magically enlarged, landing with a thud in front of her. Now half a head taller than her, the fluffy panda stood beside her, emanating a warm, cuddly aura.
It seemed alive, its jet-black eyes gazing at her with innocent curiosity. It tentatively embraced her with its paws.
Buried in the soft fur, Xin Xiu laughed, "Master, is this to keep me company?" She loved it, of course, but couldn't help finding it amusing that her master still treated her like a child, worried she might get scared away from home and giving her a little companion.
Shentu Yu: "This is a spirit tool I forged for you. Knowing your fondness for Iron-Eating Spirit Beasts, I created it to accompany you outside. Moreover, its cultivation level surpasses yours, so it can protect you if you encounter danger."
Xin Xiu: "Ah... its cultivation level is higher than mine?" Could her master casually forge a spirit tool with cultivation abilities?
Shentu Yu continued explaining his creation's functions. He reached into the panda spirit tool's furry belly and pulled out a simple-looking sword. "It has storage space inside, a treasure pouch. When you're traveling and can't carry everything, you can store items here."
A Doraemon... Doraepanda?
Xin Xiu experimentally tugged at the panda's belly fur, revealing the hidden pocket. After she looked, the panda, showing its intelligence, raised its paw to smooth the ruffled fur on its belly.
Xin Xiu: "Master, what if I accidentally lose it?"
Shentu Yu: "You won't. You can shrink it and keep it on you normally. At this size, it will follow you on its own. Even if you misplace it briefly, it will quickly find you." He had incorporated his disciple's hair and blood when forging it.
So it came with an auto-follow feature like a pet in a game. Xin Xiu felt reassured now. "Thank you, Master!" She was sure the other disciples' masters would give them things too, but her master's gift was undoubtedly the most thoughtful and practical.
Shentu Yu: "There's more."
There's more?
Shentu Yu: "If you encounter danger, you can also use it as armor."
With a wave of his hand, Xin Xiu felt as if an extra layer of clothing had appeared on her body. Looking down, she saw her hands had turned into panda paws – she had become a panda!
So when he said to use it as armor, did he mean she could wear this panda spirit tool like a mech suit? Put it on and transform into a panda-human hybrid, with immense strength and fierce fighting power.
Xin Xiu: *feeling the surge of power within her body*.jpg
When she was little, other kids wanted to be magical girls, but she was different – she wanted to be Ultraman, transforming in a flash of light. Now... she supposed her dream had come true in another sense. After all, the difference between Ultraman and a panda person was just tight spandex versus real fur.
Her master was truly a fairy godfather, making all her beautiful dreams come true. Praise be to her master!
"Papa, you're the best!" Xin Xiu pounced on her reclusive master, giving him a hug.
Later, she went to the back mountain to find her panda mother and hugged her all afternoon. Shentu Yu, having just shed his human skin for his original panda form, thought about his disciple's impending departure. While happy he wouldn't have to play with the child anymore, he also felt a bit unaccustomed. He raised his paw to pat his little disciple, actively allowing her to lie on his belly.
"Now that you know I'm leaving, you're even willing to let me lie on your belly," Xin Xiu said, sprawled on the panda's stomach. "See, whether human or panda, it's all the same – you only know to cherish something when you're about to lose it."
Shentu Yu: "..."
After a lively farewell party and bidding goodbye to her fellow disciples at Shuling Mountain, six young people aged between twenty and fifteen left Shuling Mountain, going their separate ways. From this point on, they would each embark on the first mountain of their long lives.
