Anti-fraud manual for the cultivation world

Deep in the nameless mountains, there lies a small flower valley.

The valley is spring-like all year round, and wildflowers bloom in abundance.

Several mountain peaks surround the flower valley, their peaks covered in snow and shrouded in mist, creating a scene resembling a fairyland.

However, those with profound cultivation or expertise in formations can see that these mountain peaks are covered by defensive formations. These formations can deceive the eyes of cultivators flying overhead on swords, preventing them from seeing that hidden in the flower valley surrounded by these peaks are houses, farmland, medicinal herb gardens, and a group of young cultivators.

This is the hidden place of the obscure sect "Hidden Flower Pavilion," a place that no one in the martial arts world has ever set foot in, or even heard of.

Li Gu sat among the flowers, reciting the sect rules aloud with a group of senior and junior sisters, brothers, and sisters:

"Article 1: Before completing the apprenticeship, you shall not leave the mountain even half a step without permission."

"Article Two: After completing your apprenticeship, you shall immediately descend the mountain and never return to Flower Valley for the rest of your life."

Article 3: You shall not mention Hidden Flower Pavilion, or any person or thing within the sect, to anyone.

After the disciples finished reciting in unison, the eldest sister, who was instructing them on behalf of their master, asked, "What should be done if anyone violates the sect rules?"

Li Gu and the other disciples answered in unison, "We will search the heavens and the underworld, no matter where he flees, we will surely exterminate him in the Hidden Flower Garden!"

The senior sister nodded and smiled, "Alright, you've memorized it very well. Let's begin today's training."

Li Gu sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, faced the sky with his palms facing forward, and began to cultivate the [Hidden Flower Heart Method].

Li Gu is a time traveler who has been in this world for four years.

When Li Gu first transmigrated, he fell into a primeval forest, which was full of snakes, insects, tigers, leopards, and even magical beasts. He almost lost his life, but was saved by the sect leader of Hidden Flower Sect. He then came to Flower Valley, and four years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Because of the unique rules of the Hidden Flower Valley, Li Gu has not left the valley for the past four years. The outside world is still unknown to him. He only knows that it is a world of immortals and heroes, or a world of cultivation.

But it doesn't matter, the most important thing is to hone your skills in the starting village! You can think about other things after you leave the starting village.

Li Gu diligently cultivated over the past four years, making rapid progress.

Seeing that her junior brothers and sisters were all sitting cross-legged in meditation and cultivating their inner power, the eldest senior sister walked among the disciples, making her rounds.

The eldest sister's name is Bai Yan. She is extremely beautiful, with exquisite features and a graceful figure. Judging from her appearance alone, she looks like a well-bred young lady of about twenty-five years old, but her real age is definitely more than twenty-five.

When Li Gu first transmigrated, Bai Yan looked like she was twenty-five years old. Four years have passed, and Li Gu has indeed aged four years, but Bai Yan still looks twenty-five. Heaven knows how many years she has maintained this appearance.

Bai Yan walked past him, and a fragrant breeze followed her, as if all the flowers in the valley had sprinkled their most fragrant powder on her, so that wherever she went, there was a floral fragrance.

Li Gu couldn't help but sniffle hard...

"Snapped!"

He received a light slap on the head from his senior sister, which didn't hurt at all: "Junior Brother Li, everyone is diligently cultivating their inner techniques, what are you doing?"

Li Gu shamelessly said, "My nose is itchy, I need to get some fresh air."

Bai Yan knew exactly what he was doing, but she didn't mind. She simply sighed and said, "This will only hinder your graduation! Do you want to spend your whole life in this flower valley? Don't you want to travel the world after you graduate?"

Li Gu shook his head frantically: "No, no! The sect rules are so strict. Once you graduate, you can't come back. Then I'll never see Senior Sister again. I'll just be lazy and not practice properly, and stay in Flower Valley forever to keep Senior Sister company."

Bai Yan smiled, his eyes unmoved and his expression unchanged. He showed no reaction to such an obvious gesture of goodwill, neither angry nor shy. He simply said calmly, "At my current cultivation pace, I will graduate soon. At that time, someone else will take over the teaching. Junior Brother Li wants to stay with me, but I have no intention of staying here with you."

Li Gu: "..."

"You're punished by having to practice your inner cultivation technique for an extra hour today."

Bai Yan sighed softly, turned and walked away. After taking only three steps, he slapped one of his junior brothers, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation, on the forehead: "Junior Brother Fang, are you sleeping again? You always sneak off to sleep under the guise of cultivating your inner power. It's outrageous! You're punished to practice the [Hidden Flower Sword Technique] twenty times. Let's see if you can still sleep while practicing your sword technique!"

Amidst laughter, Junior Brother Fang stepped forward and went to practice his swordsmanship in the open space nearby.

Bai Yan's voice was like heavenly music: "Remember, Master will only allow those who cultivate the inner technique to the seventh level of the Qi Refining stage to graduate. No matter how well you cultivate other external skills, it won't work. In other words, the most important thing is the [Hidden Flower Inner Technique]! Everyone must remember this. If you don't want to live in Flower Valley for the rest of your lives, and want to roam the martial world, upholding justice and seeking revenge, then you must cultivate the inner technique diligently. Don't be like Junior Brother Fang, who falls asleep as soon as he starts practicing the inner technique, understand?"

"Understood!"

The disciples responded in unison.

Bai Yan nodded, slowly walked into the flower bushes, sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, faced the sky with his palms facing upwards, and began his cultivation.

A breeze swept down the hillside, causing the wildflowers all over the mountain to sway their heads. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth, nurtured by all things, including flowers, was absorbed by Bai Yan's [Hidden Flower Heart Technique], forming a vortex. Pollen in the air also danced with the spiritual energy, clinging to her clothes.

Therefore, Bai Yan would become even more fragrant after each practice session, and the fragrance would gradually fade over a long period of time.

Li Gulian also practices the same mental cultivation method and can also absorb pollen, so he smells very fragrant, but for some reason, he always feels that his senior sister smells more fragrant.

Not far away, in the flower bushes, Junior Brother Fang was practicing his swordplay. His movements were wide and powerful, his sword strikes were sharp, and he created gusts of wind that blew away all the pollen around him. No wonder this guy can never smell good.

Upon seeing this scene, Li Gu suddenly felt a vague sense of unease, but this feeling was fleeting and could not be grasped when he tried to think about it carefully.

Evening, the setting sun.

Li Gu circulated his internal energy through one full cycle and then paused his cultivation. As his senior sister had instructed, he practiced for an extra hour. When he opened his eyes, he was the only one still practicing in the flower bushes; the other senior brothers and sisters had already finished their meals and were enjoying their free time.

In the flower valley, junior brothers and sisters could be seen playing everywhere, and laughter could be heard from time to time.

Li Gu rubbed his stomach, feeling a bit hungry, and quickly ran to the kitchen.

The current generation of disciples in Hidden Flower Valley are all below the Qi Refining stage in cultivation, and there isn't even a single Foundation Establishment disciple. Since none of them can abstain from grains, they naturally need to eat. As for the previous generation, they should have all graduated by now, as there isn't even a senior disciple of the rank of Uncle-Master in Flower Valley.

Actually, when Li Gu first arrived, Bai Yan was not yet the senior sister. There were several senior brothers above her. But over the past ten years, the senior brothers have graduated one after another and left Flower Valley to venture into the martial world. Bai Yan has thus been promoted to senior sister.

The rules of Hidden Flower Valley are too strange! Li Gu has never understood why the powerful disciples are not allowed to return after graduation. The ones left in Flower Valley are all weaklings. What if a rival sect attacks? Wouldn't that be terrible?

Oh, the Hidden Flower Sect doesn't exist in the martial arts world at all, so where did this rival sect come from?

That's all right now!

"Is there any food left for me?" Li Gu asked loudly, sticking his head into the dining room door.

Today, the person in charge of serving meals was the junior sister Meng Ting. She had been a disciple for less than a year and was still in the body training stage. She was sweet and cute. Hearing Li Gu's voice, she brought out a bowl of rice: "Senior Brother Li, you were punished to train for an extra hour today, right? Haha! I knew you would be late, so I specially saved a bowl of rice for you. Eat up."

She had barely finished speaking when Junior Brother Fang, who was also being punished with extra sword practice, squeezed in: "Is there any food left for me?"

"No!" Meng Ting smiled brightly, "Serves you right for being late."

"Huh?" Junior Brother Fang exclaimed, feeling utterly wronged. "Senior Brother Li was late, and you saved some for him. I was late, so it's my fault? You can't be this biased!"

In a corner of the dining room, a junior brother who was digesting his meal laughed and said, "Junior Brother Fang, you need to have some self-awareness. Don't you know how ugly you are? There's no place for you in Junior Sister's heart!"

From another corner, another junior brother spoke up: "Junior Sister likes Senior Brother Li, that's an open secret."

So all the disciples who remained in the dining hall laughed, except for Meng Ting, who blushed and hid far away.

Li Gu really enjoyed this atmosphere!

I also like the Hidden Flower Sect!

When he first transmigrated, he was very worried that the cultivation world he had come to was like the one written in online novels, where the strong were respected, and there was deceit and treachery. Even fellow disciples bullied each other, and the master was biased, causing the protagonist to suffer a lot of bitterness and hatred.

But what he imagined didn't exist. Hidden Flower Sect was a harmonious and loving sect. The disciples got along well. Occasionally, someone would have a dispute, but with the fair mediation of Senior Sister Bai Yan and Second Senior Brother Zhou Shijie, they could quickly shake hands and make up, continuing to love each other like a family.

"Meng Ting! Junior Sister Meng!" Second Senior Brother Zhou Shijie's voice rang out from outside: "The firewood in the woodshed is almost gone. I remember it was your turn to chop firewood this time, right? Before it gets dark, hurry up and chop five baskets of firewood. The junior brothers who are making breakfast tomorrow will need it."

"Oh no!" Meng Ting's mouth twitched.

The disciples of Hidden Flower Sect took turns doing the work, regardless of gender or cultivation level. Whoever was assigned the task did so. Meng Ting, a female disciple with low cultivation, was most afraid of chopping wood. It wasn't just that she lacked the strength; the hillside was teeming with snakes and insects, and even a single serpent could give her nightmares.

She looked pitifully at her fellow students in the dining hall, her gaze lingering on Li Gu for several seconds.

But Li Gu made no comment.

Because the spirit he upholds is: men leave their IDs and women strive for self-improvement.

Of course, out of gratitude for his junior sister saving him food, Li Gu felt that it wouldn't hurt to chop half a basket of firewood for her, but there was no need to step forward and take on the work right away. He had to give the other junior brothers a chance to be his sycophants.

However, Li Guwei's "humility" had no effect. His fellow disciples all watched the show and none of them took the initiative to flatter him.

Meng Ting pouted pitifully, "Whoever helps me chop wood, I... I'll kiss their cheek."

As soon as he said this, all eyes in the room turned to Li Gu.

The eyes of his junior brothers seemed to speak volumes: "Senior Brother Li, go for it! Only you are suited to do this."

【Ding! 】

A synthesized electronic voice suddenly sounded in Li Gu's mind: [The Cultivation World Anti-Fraud Manual Lv.1 reminds you: Meng Ting's statement, "Whoever helps me chop wood, I'll kiss their cheek," is a lie. Do you want to force the lie to become true? Yes/No.]

Li Gu was slightly taken aback: Huh? A system?

Holy crap! My system has finally arrived?

Four years! I've been in this world for four years now. Do you know how I've gotten through these four years? I thought I wasn't the protagonist, that I didn't get the protagonist's perks. The only thing I can be proud of is the logical thinking and problem-solving skills that the modern scientific education system instilled in me from a young age.

With this insignificant ability, his cultivation progress was much faster than that of his fellow disciples.

He once thought that this was the only way he could make a living.

Unexpectedly, the system finally arrived.

However, this system is a bit strange. Its name is odd, "Cultivation World Anti-Fraud Manual Lv.1", and its functions are also strange. It seems to be a system that can identify lies and forcibly turn them into truth.