Junior sister, I really need to control you

Mu Xiaoyu remained silent.

Her senior brother was a good person, and more handsome than any man she had ever seen at home, but the way he talked was really infuriating.

I wish she could really become the abbot someday, just like in my dream last night.

If she becomes the abbot, she can order her senior brothers to cultivate every day.

No, just cultivating is too good for her senior brother! She also needs to make him buy her snacks every day! She'll pick the most expensive and delicious ones!

"Hey hey hey..."

Thinking of this, Mu Xiaoyu couldn't help but let out a few silly laughs.

"What's wrong with my junior sister?" Li Yinsheng asked.

Mu Xiaoyu quickly stopped laughing: "It's nothing, senior brother, I was just thinking of something happy."

"Heh, Junior Sister, if you're thinking of something happy, it must be something delicious, right?" Li Yinsheng said with a confident smile.

After spending these days together, he had come to understand his junior sister quite well, and knew that the most important thing in her mind was food.

"Senior brother really looks down on people!" Mu Xiaoyu took a bite of the dried jujube with some dissatisfaction. "Does senior brother think all I care about is food?"

Although mortal identity seems useless in the cultivation world, she is still the little princess of Wuwei Royal Palace!

How could my senior brother think that all she thinks about is food!

She clearly likes fun and pretty things too!

"Oh? Weren't you thinking about delicious food?" Li Yinsheng opened his eyes and asked with great interest, "Besides delicacies, what else could make you so happy?"

He was genuinely curious: what happy things could a foodie have besides food in their head?

"Uh... this... I'm thinking, I'm thinking..." Mu Xiaoyu stammered.

What should she say?

Tell my senior brother that the "happy thing" I'm thinking of is becoming the abbot and then taking revenge on you tenfold?

If someone dares to say something like that, they'll probably be trained all night!

Faced with Li Yinsheng's face, which seemed to say "I'm very interested," Mu Xiaoyu stammered a few words, then quickly came up with a solution.

"I... I'm still a nominal disciple. I thought that as long as I listen to my senior brother and cultivate diligently, I can become a formal disciple, or even a true disciple, so that's why I'm happy! Yes! That's why!"

The same words, phrased differently, can evoke completely different feelings.

Mu Xiaoyu, you're so clever! Mu Xiaoyu thought to herself with pride.

"Oh..." Li Yinsheng was somewhat surprised, "I didn't expect you to be so ambitious, junior sister. I really didn't see that before."

"More than that," Mu Xiaoyu said, carried away with her pride. "I want to cultivate even harder in the future and become a higher-level disciple... Uh, senior brother, what is a higher-level disciple?"

“Above the true disciples are the direct disciples,” Li Yinsheng explained. “To become a true disciple is to take a senior who has achieved success in cultivation within the temple as one’s master and receive his teachings.”

"And among all of this elder's true disciples, the only one designated as his successor is the direct disciple. Hmm... think of it like the relationship between an emperor, crown prince, and other princes in the mortal world, and you'll understand."

"Oh..." Mu Xiaoyu nodded, "So, to become a true disciple, one must first become an apprentice?"

“That’s generally how it is,” Li Yinsheng said. “Only with a master can one acquire better techniques and receive guidance from the master.”

"Then... Senior Brother, what's above the successor?" Mu Xiaoyu asked, even more curious.

"That means you'll inherit your master's position in the Taoist temple after he passes away or steps down. Otherwise, why do you think they're called 'direct disciples'?"

Li Yinsheng explained: "The highly skilled people who can take on disciples in Taoist temples usually also serve as stewards, responsible for various tasks such as altar rituals, presiding over precepts, teaching and imparting knowledge, and slaying demons and monsters. The larger the Taoist temple, the more stewards there are."

"Then is the abbot's place just above that?" Mu Xiaoyu asked curiously.

"Above the deacon are the vice abbots, usually only one or two, and then the abbot is one level higher," Li Yinsheng said.

"In short, the goals of disciples in Xuanzhen Temple are roughly: nominal disciples, formal disciples, true disciples, direct disciples, stewards, plus the deputy abbot and the abbot. These are the goals that disciples in Xuanzhen Temple strive for their entire lives," Li Yinsheng said with a smile.

Of course, this was the former Xuanzhen Temple.

Now... all of these are just empty shells.

"I wonder when I'll become a formal disciple. Do I have to cultivate the Qingxuan True Scripture to the second level?" Mu Xiaoyu wondered with anticipation.

Becoming a formal disciple was her first step towards becoming the abbess of the temple!

"A formal disciple?" Li Yinsheng chuckled.

Generally speaking, those who are registered disciples naturally aspire to become formal disciples.

Once you become a formal disciple, in addition to being able to cultivate better techniques, you will also receive a monthly allowance of one hundred talisman coins, and two Nourishing Yuan Pills every day to assist in your cultivation.

But Mu Xiaoyu has all of these.

Although she was only a nominal disciple, the Qingxuan True Scripture she cultivated was second only to the sect's main cultivation method. The talisman coins she had were equivalent to a full disciple's allowance for a hundred months, and the Nourishing Yuan Pills were supplied in unlimited quantities.

Becoming a so-called formal disciple meant nothing to her.

“What’s so difficult about becoming a formal disciple? As long as you cultivate diligently today, I’ll make you a formal disciple tomorrow,” Li Yinsheng said with a smile.

"Thank you, senior brother!" Mu Xiaoyu's eyes lit up.

As Mu Xiaoyu spoke, the familiar, resonant sound of a great bell echoed in Li Yinsheng's mind once again.

As the scroll unfolds, the full moon and lotus leaves remain the same, but new pale gold lettering emerges.

My ambition in spiritual practice: to become the abbot of Xuanzhen Temple!

Are you born with a special destiny to become the sect master? As a cultivator, you should aspire to great heights! Since you have already glimpsed the possibility of advancement within the sect, you should set lofty goals, advance step by step, and eventually become the sect master!

The standard for measuring the ambition of cultivation this time is the current position of the Cave Heaven Master in the sect. Rewards will be given when the corresponding position is reached or exceeded.

This training program lasts for ten years, and will close after ten years or upon the disbandment of the sect. Each reward can only be claimed once, and rewards cannot be claimed repeatedly once the desired rank is achieved.

Cultivation Rewards:

He will be promoted to a formal disciple and awarded one year's cultivation.

He was promoted to a true disciple and awarded three years of cultivation.

He was promoted to a direct disciple and awarded ten years of cultivation.

He was promoted to steward and awarded twenty years of cultivation.

He was promoted to Deputy Abbot and awarded thirty years of cultivation.

Becoming the abbot will be rewarded with fifty years of cultivation.

Chapter 15 The Joy of Being a Privileged User: Thirty-Four Years of Cultivation!

Under the scorching sun, inside the Xuanzhen Temple.

Li Yinsheng sat on the futon, shifting his attention from Mu Xiaoyu, who was still eating dried dates, to the golden characters on the scroll in front of him.

Upon seeing the cultivation aspirations that had appeared, he was first taken aback, then sighed inwardly—

These aspirations for spiritual practice, though richly rewarded, are by no means simple.

Although the time limit for this training is ten times longer than that for the previous "wealth" training, the difficulty has increased by far more than ten times.

Over the course of ten years, I have elevated my status within the community.

My junior sister is fifteen years old this year, which is considered quite late for starting the program.

Generally speaking, Taoist temples accept disciples between the ages of seven and thirteen.

Ten years, that is, from seventeen to twenty-three years old.

At this age, most are still formal disciples. Very few can become true disciples. They are basically all people with outstanding talents who have been reserved by the deacons and even the abbots and deputy abbots early on.

As for becoming a direct descendant before reaching this age...

This level of genius might be far inferior to his senior uncle, but he is definitely a second-class genius who could pass the Shaoyang Dao exam.

In some ways, becoming a direct disciple of a steward in one's early twenties is even more difficult than winning a second-class grade in the Shaoyang Dao Examination.

Because direct disciples are to inherit the position of steward, the test for direct disciples is not only their talent and cultivation, but also their ability to perform the job well.

Generally speaking, before selecting a direct disciple, the steward will test each true disciple for seven or eight years or even more than ten years, and then select the one who best fits his position based on his overall talent, cultivation, temperament and position.

For a normal cultivator, being able to become a direct disciple of a Taoist temple within ten years is basically a sign of a promising future, with a very high chance of becoming the abbot.

But such examples are extremely rare, and even with the addition of shady deals and complex backgrounds, they are not so easy to find.

Li Yinsheng had heard of a certain Taoist temple where the deputy abbot and a steward in charge of the treasury had a secret affair, with the deputy abbot's direct blood relative being made the steward's direct disciple.

At that time, the deputy abbot's direct blood relative had only been a disciple for twelve years and was just twenty years old when he became a direct disciple.

After this incident was exposed, it caused strong dissatisfaction throughout the Taoist temple, eventually alarming the true master of that temple, who stripped the steward of his cultivation and expelled him from the temple. The deputy abbot was also severely punished; although he could remain in the temple, he was no longer allowed to serve as a steward.

This clearly demonstrates just how difficult it is to become a direct disciple within ten years.

After all, although the direct disciples are still disciples in name, they have already stepped into the management of the Taoist temple with one foot in the door.

As for those who advance further, they must become a butler within ten years...

I've never heard of Li Yinsheng before.

Even someone like my uncle started cultivating at the age of four and only achieved first-class status in the Shaoyang Dao examination when he was almost twenty.

She might have been qualified to serve as a deacon at that time, but if we consider a ten-year period, she was actually five years over the age limit.

Therefore, a newly initiated disciple can only be considered a direct disciple within ten years at most, and it is impossible for him to reach the step of "being promoted to steward".

As for the subsequent promotion to deputy abbot and becoming abbot, that's just wishful thinking.

Unless... someone can open a back door for this new disciple without any scruples!

Seeing Mu Xiaoyu, who was trying to slack off by the water tank with a shifty look on her face, Li Yinsheng's lips curled up slightly.

Coincidentally, he is now the acting abbot of Xuanzhen Temple.

Moreover, he doesn't need to worry that the only True Person in the temple will punish him for "favoritism and corruption".

"Ahem!" Li Yinsheng coughed twice, put away the scroll, and said seriously, "Junior Sister!"

"Senior brother!" Mu Xiaoyu immediately stood up straight. "I didn't slack off, senior brother!"

“I didn’t say you were slacking off,” Li Yinsheng said. “I just thought about it carefully, and making you a formal disciple is actually a bit inappropriate…”

"Senior brother, I really didn't slack off!" Mu Xiaoyu interrupted him anxiously, "I was just thinking about it in my head, I didn't slack off at all..."