My virtue is above yours.

Footsteps sounded outside. Chen Jingxuan looked up and saw Zhu Lingyun walking in stiffly.

Zhu Lingyun entered the house and immediately closed the door to avoid seeing the servants outside: "Junior brother, what have you been up to these past two days? How did you manage to conjure up such a large house?"

Chen Jingxuan pointed to Lu Yunci beside him: "This was done by my senior sister."

Zhu Lingyun sat down with a smile: "Stop joking. We've been in the capital together for a year. If she had that much money, wouldn't I know?"

Hearing this, Lu Yunci rolled her eyes: "When was the last time we met?"

Zhu Lingyun thought for a moment: "Six months ago."

"Nine months ago! You didn't care about your own junior sister at all. It's a pity that Master specifically told us to take care of each other before he left." Lu Yunci grabbed Chen Jingxuan's arm. "Xiao Quan'er, did you see clearly? This is your senior brother's ugly face."

Chen Jingxuan smoothed things over, saying, "Everyone's here. Let the staff join us for a meal!"

"Staff? Who's that?" Lu Yunci asked.

"They're the friends who work for us outside." Chen Jingxuan disliked the word "servant" from the bottom of his heart.

"Don't worry about them. I've prepared two portions of the same dish for them to eat in the next room. That way, some people won't feel uncomfortable." Lu Yunci picked up a piece of chicken butt and angrily threw it into Chen Jingxuan's bowl.

Zhu Lingyun silently reached for a chicken leg, but Lu Yunci shoved it away with her chopsticks.

Chen Jingxuan picked up the chicken's tail from his bowl and handed it to his senior brother, saying, "I'm being assigned to duty tomorrow. Do you have any suggestions for me?"

"Where are you assigned? What will you be doing?" Lu Yunci stood up to serve him soup.

Zhu Lingyun also got up to scoop up some soup, but Lu Yunci scooped it away with a spoon. Helpless, he leaned back in his chair and refused to eat anymore.

Chen Jingxuan picked up a piece of fish: "Assigned to Xinyangfang to be in charge of seeing patients. Isn't that a bit too few people?"

Lu Yunci tossed a piece of burnt, stale steamed bun into Zhu Lingyun's bowl: "Don't just look at the surface. It's not just about practicing free medicine. When you're on duty in the neighborhood, you'll naturally have the advantage of being close to the source of information. You know, cultivation mainly relies on experience. If you don't encounter opportunities, your cultivation level simply won't improve."

She turned to Zhu Lingyun, her tone suddenly turning fierce: "Hey. Do you even know what level Xinyangfang is?"

Zhu Lingyun, with a steamed bun in his mouth, spread his hands and glanced at his empty bowl.

Chen Jingxuan placed a chicken leg on his plate before he spoke, "Junior brother is the best. I remember Xinyangfang was a Class C."

Lu Yunci put down her teacup, slamming it onto the table with a loud thud: "Grade C? Why is our Xiaoquan only Grade C? Abbot Uncle must be deliberately making things difficult for us. I'm going to reason with him!"

"Senior sister, don't be impulsive." Chen Jingxuan quickly pulled her back. "There's something I don't understand. Why are there different levels in this workshop?"

Lu Yunci sat down and explained, "The situations in different regions are different, and the problems that arise will also be different. Major incidents are more likely to occur in Grade A regions. The bigger the matter a cultivator gets involved in, the better it will be for their cultivation. In Grade C regions, most of the incidents are minor and trivial, or there are local powerful clans vying for opportunities, so the chances are pitifully few."

Chen Jingxuan realized that the disciples of the Heavenly Dao Sect were like salespeople, each assigned a sales territory. The top-tier sales territories had many customers of high quality, resulting in greater rewards in cultivation. The bottom-tier territories were neglected and unloved; when they went out to take on private jobs, they could only pick up what others had left over, and they had to live in fear of being retaliated against for stealing from others.

Just like that rich kid who played with a beggar a few days ago and ended up having his whole family executed, Chen Jingxuan helped that beggar, and was then treated as a thief who stole his opportunity by the rich kid.

Lu Yunci said sarcastically, "Some cold-faced guys are lucky; the one on duty at Luoxia Pavilion is a top-tier establishment."

Zhu Lingyun explained, "That's a misconception. There are differences even among the top ranks. There are four disciples on duty at Luoxia Pavilion, and my rank is the lowest. Everyone in Luoxia Pavilion is either rich or noble, so there's no way we can handle trivial matters like free medical consultations. If something serious happens, we often can't handle it and end up cleaning up after the senior disciples. As someone who cultivates the Dao, how much reputation can I gain in the long run?"

"The main reason you're not gaining a reputation is your own personality," Chen Jingxuan patted his senior brother on the shoulder. "Won't the assigned area be changed?"

"It changes every season," Zhu Lingyun comforted her. "Don't be discouraged. I remember that in Xinyangfang, only one person is on duty at a time, so you don't have to share the opportunities with others. Besides, the previous disciple on duty was Mo Xun, the abbot's personal disciple, I think."

Lu Yunci frowned in suspicion: "The area for the abbot's personal disciples is only Grade C?"

Zhu Lingyun said in a serious tone, "The abbot has always been fair and just, so it is understandable that his own disciple is assigned to the C-level area."

Lu Yunci rolled her eyes: "Come on. That old scumbag Zhang Shunan, he pretends to be a decent person, and you actually believe him?"

Zhu Lingyun looked completely bewildered: "What do you mean by 'scumbag'?"

"It's what Koizumi taught me; it means a bad man who starts a relationship and then abandons it."

Chen Jingxuan caught a whiff of gossip, and the sweet and sour pork in his bowl suddenly lost its appeal: "Senior sister, how do you know the Abbot is a scumbag? He wouldn't—"

"What are you thinking? I've barely even seen him. This is what I heard from Yi Bei, the young master of Qingluan Pavilion. She said that Zhang Shun'an and one of his junior sisters were engaged in a secret marriage years ago, but the Celestial Master disapproved of the marriage, believing that this ordinary disciple was not good enough for his eldest son, so he separated them. Zhang Shun'an didn't dare to resist at all, truly living up to his name, which means both smooth sailing and peace. Later, this female disciple disappeared without a trace. Rumor has it that she was silenced by the Celestial Master."

Chen Jingxuan questioned, "It can't be that bad. How could a dignified Heavenly Master of the Heavenly Dao Sect make things difficult for a female disciple? Perhaps that female disciple is just disheartened and has gone into seclusion."

"Who knows?" Lu Yunci pinched his shoulder and said seriously, "Anyway, after hearing about this, I don't have a good impression of Zhang Shunan. Just a heads-up, don't be fooled by his gentlemanly appearance."

As they ate and chatted, Chen Jingxuan brought up the matter of going to Qingluan Pavilion a few days ago to inquire about Yu Chan.

"After the blind old woman finished calculating the value of the information, she lay on the ground and had an epileptic seizure. They told me that the karmic consequences of my information were too heavy, and Qingluan Pavilion could not bear them, so they were unwilling to help me."

Lu Yunci frowned deeply after hearing this: "Xiao Quan'er, you won't be in trouble, will you?"

"Senior sister, don't scare me."

Lu Yunci grasped his hand: "Xiao Quan'er, why don't you stop investigating? If you can't find your parents, so be it. My senior brother and I don't know who our parents are either, and we're just happy about it. But what if—and I mean what if—you were never supposed to be involved in this great karmic conflict? I'm afraid that the Jade Cicada is the source of all evil, and if you find it, something terrible will happen."

Zhu Lingyun immediately retorted, "I disagree. First, I need to find my parents. Second, can you guarantee that if Junior Brother doesn't find Yu Chan, that great karmic consequence won't fall on his head? Since you know this matter is important, you should gather more information in preparation for any eventuality, so that you won't be completely unaware when disaster strikes."

The two looked at Chen Jingxuan at the same time, waiting for his choice.