CHAPTER 101: CHAPTER 101: LOTUS TEMPLE MASTER

When Qinghua went to deliver food to Chen Guan again, the Lotus Temple Master used a secret skill of invisibility and vanished into thin air, following Qinghua.

Qinghua walked briskly along the way, making the Lotus Temple Master inwardly curse, "I’ve taught her to cultivate her mind and body for so long, all learned to no avail. Her steps are unfocused, her breath chaotic and shallow. How can she be a cultivator when she’s no better than an ordinary person? It’s definitely that person disturbing Qinghua’s Dao heart, surely not a good influence."

Suppressing his anger, he followed Qinghua to Chen Guan’s residence, watching as Qinghua neatly arranged the vegetarian dishes from the temple, even setting out bowls and chopsticks, before calling Chen Guan out, she just rested her chin and watched him eat. The Lotus Temple Master was immediately struck with a burst of anger.

"So that’s what’s going on, my little disciple moved her mortal heart," the Lotus Temple Master realized as he saw the starlit gaze in Qinghua’s eyes towards Chen Guan, and snorted to himself, "I don’t care who my disciple wants to marry, but anyone who dares to make her suffer is an evil fiend deserving of divine retribution. This is just the beginning, yet he bosses my disciple around; if I don’t teach him a lesson now, won’t he become insufferable later?"

The Lotus Temple Master scrutinized Chen Guan, noting that while Chen Guan looked decent enough with his strong eyebrows and eyes, he wore a red robe that was clearly styled like an ancient woman’s wedding dress, a detail an ordinary person might miss, but not the well-traveled Lotus Temple Master.

"How inauspicious, a man wearing a woman’s wedding dress—it must be something unsavory," the Lotus Temple Master muttered to himself, though he knew in his heart this explained why his own calculations were skewed, likely due to the red wedding dress secret treasure.

"If I can’t calculate it, I’ll just read your face and I’ll still uncover your depths." Seeing Qinghua keeping the conversation going actively with Chen Guan, who gave absent replies, the Lotus Temple Master felt even more irked.

Thinking this, the Lotus Temple Master fixed his gaze on Chen Guan, analyzing his features closely.

"Huh, why is this kid’s face so peculiar!" he thought, noting, "At a glance, his features seem commendable, even showing signs of imperial destiny, yet upon closer inspection, there’s a lack of formality, not fit for an emperor’s phase."

"Saying he’s destined for wealth, yet his nose is too straight and sharp, lacking fortune."

"His eyes large and bright, giving an impression of romantic charisma, but the corners were missing a bit of playfulness."

"Strange, strange... this kid has all ten aspects... yet there’s a missing element in each... there truly exists such a face of ten perfections and ten deficiencies... it’s truly extraordinary..." the Lotus Temple Master grew more suspicious the longer he observed.

Such features seemed to encompass power, wealth, fame, profit, fortune, status, longevity, sadness, suffering, and misfortune in one person, yet each fell slightly short, making fortune and misfortune hard to predict, a truly rare face.

"Damn it, how can someone have such features, is this a human life?" The Lotus Temple Master cursed inwardly, calculating for ages without a conclusion.

Only now did he realize that the reason he couldn’t predict Chen Guan’s affairs wasn’t solely due to the red wedding dress secret treasure, but also the problem inherent in this face of ten perfections and ten deficiencies.

Having everything, yet lacking in everything, such a person’s face makes it hard to delve deeply into any one thing, bound for no great achievements, destined for mediocrity.

For this reason, the fate of a person with ten perfections and ten deficiencies is the hardest to predict.

After eating the vegetarian meal, Qinghua cleaned up the food box, "Guan, you cultivate here, I’m heading back now. There’s an early class tomorrow, so I’ll come later, but if you get hungry, snack on some fruits."

Qinghua pulled a peach from her pocket, handing it to Chen Guan with another reminder, "I’ve already washed it, you can eat it directly."

"Alright, got it." Chen Guan casually accepted the peach, waved goodbye to Qinghua, then returned to the cave to cultivate.

Seeing this, the Lotus Master almost snorted in anger.

That was the wild immortal peach he’d saved for Qinghua, a heavenly and earthly treasure for replenishing energy and blood.

Qinghua didn’t have the heart to eat it herself; she gave the wild immortal peach to Chen Guan, who didn’t even utter a thank you, acting like it didn’t matter.

"Not teaching that kid a lesson, he’ll really think my disciple is easy to bully, treating her like a lapdog?" Lotus Master seethed with anger, ready to give Chen Guan a lesson.

When Qinghua left, she closed the plank door to the cave, with both Warring States and Rouge guarding the door, yet the Lotus Temple Master paid it no mind.

Turning invisible, he approached the cave entrance; though with Warring States’ keen sense of smell, no anomaly was detected, only a sense of unease causing him to raise his head and look around without finding anything, then he lay back down spiritlessly.

The little red panda hadn’t come to play with him today, putting Warring States in a bad mood and not in high spirits.

At the closed door, the Lotus Temple Master employed a secret technique, walking straight at the door without pushing it.

The door showed no change, yet the Lotus Temple Master passed through as if with a wall-penetrating skill, leaving the plank entirely intact without a sound or vibration.

Inside the cave, seeing Chen Guan seated on the bed cultivating, the Lotus Temple Master stroked his beard, contemplating how to teach him a lesson.

After only a brief thought, it seemed the Lotus Master already had an idea, a cold smile appearing as he performed a technique and pointed towards Chen Guan’s finger.

"Whether it’s a blessing or a curse, you chose it, so you can’t blame it on this old Daoist," the Lotus Master chuckled, turned, and passed through the door, leaving the stone cave.

Having cultivated several rounds of the Secret Technique of One, Chen Guan felt his progress slow; even in the Pure Yang Land, with medicinal meals’ help, it would be even slower otherwise.

Getting up to take the teacup on the table for a sip of water, when he lifted it, before bringing it close to his mouth, he froze.

Staring at the teacup, seemingly in disbelief, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the cup in his hand again, his eyes widening.

Though it was just an ordinary stainless steel thermos, at this moment, it sparkled like gold.

"Robbed? That can’t be it; what thief would steal my steel cup and leave a gold one?" Chen Guan bit the cup rim.

Indeed, pure gold. Such a cup must weigh several hundred grams, worth a fortune.

In this era, gold’s value isn’t low, with one gram selling for almost a hundred.

Yet, Chen Guan wasn’t elated by this sudden windfall, frowning as he pondered what was truly going on, disbelieving in such convenient luck, especially for himself.

He placed the cup on the stone table, his fingers unconsciously tapping rhythmically as he thought of various possibilities.

But soon Chen Guan was stunned by the scene before him, realizing just moments ago a stone table was there, now it gleamed golden as if the entire table turned to gold.

"What... what is this..." Chen Guan realized something, his gaze shifting to his hand, suspicion deepening in his eyes.