Salary is paid!

In the days that followed, Xiao Menglan’s teaching became much stricter than before.

In the mornings, Cao Xueyan studied talismanic arts.

In the afternoons, she practiced spells.

In the evenings, she cultivated as usual.

Cao Xueyan often tried to use the opportunity to coax some “simulation attempts” out of Xiao Menglan, but every single attempt ended in failure.

Hugs and kisses were fine — Xiao Menglan never refused and even seemed to enjoy them.

But there was one thing she absolutely would not allow — no going further.

And without going further… where were the simulation points supposed to come from?

Of course, Cao Xueyan couldn’t just say it outright.

After all, the woman in front of her was her nominal master.

No matter what she wanted, she couldn’t be too forward, could she?

Defying her master’s orders again and again would only get her dragged out for public punishment.

If it came to that, her reputation in the sect would be utterly ruined.

Xiao Menglan herself had more than once blushed and told her to endure for now — they could talk about it in a month.

And a month from now… wouldn’t that be the day of the disciple initiation ceremony?

So she had been saving it all up, intending to give it all to her that night?

The simulator never lies to me!

Cao Xueyan thought about it and didn’t really mind.

Her cultivation had already been progressing at a frightening pace; it was probably a good idea to slow down a bit.

Besides, there were still plenty of cultivation points left on the simulator’s panel — enough to last her for a while.

But today was a special day.

Normally, Cao Xueyan never left the Moon-Inviting Palace, but from early morning today she had been dressing up, bathing, and putting on fresh clothes.

She even tied a scented sachet at her waist — a full sense of ceremony.

Seeing this, Xiao Menglan couldn’t help but ask curiously if she was going out to meet some secret lover.

A lover?

Cao Xueyan had no such thing.

Her body and heart, inside and out, already belonged wholly to Xiao Menglan.

If not a lover, then was she going out to buy something?

Cao Xueyan shook her head again.

The Moon-Inviting Palace had everything she needed, and if anything was lacking, the puppet attendants would go out to replenish it.

There was no need for her to go herself.

“Stop guessing, Master,” Cao Xueyan interrupted with a smile. “I’ve been here in the Moon-Inviting Palace for a whole month now. Did you forget? Today is an important day for all inner-sect disciples.”

“What important day? I don’t remember anything like that,” Xiao Menglan said, frowning in puzzlement.

“Today is stipend day — the day inner-sect disciples receive their monthly allowance!” Cao Xueyan reminded her.

Xiao Menglan blinked in realization.

So it was that day.

But it had been hundreds of years since she herself had been a disciple.

The date for stipend day had changed over time, and she could no longer remember the day that had once been so significant to her.

Back in her own disciple days, Xiao Menglan had not been as lucky as Cao Xueyan — she hadn’t caught the eye of a peak master as soon as she entered the inner sect and been taken under their wing for personal guidance.

After joining the inner sect, she had struggled for quite a while before finally showing her talent after forming her Foundation, which led to her being accepted as a disciple by the then-sect master of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect.

At that time, the Sword Peak had been nothing like the sparsely populated peak it was now.

Any disciple with even a hint of talent for the sword could be accepted into the peak.

And since the Azure Cloud Sword Sect had been founded on the sword, the Sword Peak had always been the strongest of the five peaks.

Thinking of this, Xiao Menglan couldn’t help but ask curiously, “I’ve already given you so many good things. Why are you still thinking about that meager monthly allowance?

Do you think it’s not enough?

You should have said so earlier — I’ll give you however much you need.”

Cao Xueyan snuggled against Xiao Menglan’s arms and said coquettishly, “Master! The things you’ve given me, I won’t be able to repay even in this lifetime.

How could I still dare to ask you for more?

Wouldn’t that be far too ungrateful, far too shameless!”

“Yaner, there’s nothing shameful about that,” Xiao Menglan said gently, clearly enjoying the closeness.

“Those things I gave you were just trifles, nothing worth mentioning.

What I truly hope for is that one day you will be able to form your Golden Core.

Then perhaps the two of us, master and disciple, can stand side by side and witness the same vistas.”

So that’s what she hopes for?

Cao Xueyan noted this silently.

It wasn’t surprising.

In the cultivation world, people came and went.

Most cultivators would only call each other ‘Dao-friend’ in passing, but in truth, if their paths differed, they wouldn’t walk together.

Even fellow disciples were separated by closeness and distance.

Within the same sect, they still had to follow rules and decorum.

What most cultivators longed for, apart from ascending the great Dao, was to find a companion who could climb the path with them.

“Besides, Master,” Cao Xueyan added, “doesn’t becoming a personal disciple mean there’s no more monthly allowance?”

“Hmm… now that you mention it, I think that’s true.”

“In that case, isn’t today both the first and the last time I’ll receive the inner-sect stipend?”

Xiao Menglan finally understood.

So that was all Cao Xueyan wanted — to have a memento.

The inner-sect stipend was far better than anything given to outer-sect disciples, but it was nothing to someone like Cao Xueyan, who now possessed more resources than many long-standing inner-sect disciples combined.

“Since that’s the case, just go and come back quickly,” Xiao Menglan said.

“Yes, Master. I’ll be back soon,” Cao Xueyan replied.

She was about to leave when Xiao Menglan caught her wrist and pulled her back.

Before Cao Xueyan could react, a pair of warm lips pressed against hers.

Cao Xueyan didn’t resist — she was long used to this.

Xiao Menglan had been restraining herself for days and could only use such small intimacies to ease her longing.

Cao Xueyan could understand that — after all, didn’t she also enjoy it?

It was just that this sudden kiss, right before she left, smudged all the makeup she had carefully applied.

A streak of red rouge was smeared from the corner of her mouth all the way to her ear, a curved line that brought to mind a certain famous character from a popular drama in her past life.

But at least Xiao Menglan wasn’t the kind of irresponsible woman who only enjoyed herself without caring about the aftermath.

She gathered a thread of spiritual energy at her fingertip and gently wiped it across Cao Xueyan’s face, cleaning away all the smudged rouge.

Then she guided Cao Xueyan back to the dressing table and personally helped her beloved disciple reapply her makeup.

Skin like snow and jade, lips like pearls touched with crimson.

Cao Xueyan had always been naturally beautiful, and after being nourished by the good food at the Moon-Inviting Palace these days, her cheeks had grown plumper, her beauty even more radiant once her makeup was done.

Xiao Menglan herself normally went bare-faced in the palace — even so, the evening glow of sunset could not compare to a fraction of her captivating charm.

Only for formal occasions would she sit down seriously to apply a full face of makeup.

Once the makeup was done, Cao Xueyan was about to leave when Xiao Menglan asked, “The road down the mountain is far.

Would you like your master to fly you there on my sword?”

“How could I trouble Master over such a small matter?” Cao Xueyan declined with a shake of her head.

It was just going down to collect her stipend — how could she let a Golden Core cultivator act as her chauffeur?

Xiao Menglan didn’t press further and let her go.

Cao Xueyan left the Moon-Inviting Palace and followed the same winding mountain path as before.

Today was stipend day, and since there were few disciples on the peak, she thought she’d go early to avoid queues.

This was her first time collecting the stipend.

She followed behind a few senior brothers and sisters, occasionally glancing up at the Foundation Establishment cultivators flying past overhead, her eyes full of longing and admiration.

The ability to control objects for flight was something only Foundation Establishment cultivators could do.

For those still in the Qi-Refining stage, it was better not to covet it too soon.

Still, for Cao Xueyan, it wasn’t an unreachable dream.

With the Love-Immortal-Cultivation Simulator on her side, even becoming an immortal someday wasn’t out of the question!

With that thought in mind, she walked for over half an hour, crossing mountains and streams, before finally reaching the place where the stipends were distributed.