Princess Preaches to the Masses

The Qi Condensing Formation shimmered softly beneath a glowing dome of light. Lin Yuan sat cross-legged on a mossy stone platform, Tearlume curled up in his lap like a silent doll. In one hand, he held a **Dark Holy Stone**, letting his **Sunfire Seed** slowly purify it.

Purification was easier now. Painless, even. Peaceful.

Still, it was hard to focus… because Tearlume had just beaten him for the fifth time at "Three Dots in a Row."

"…Again?" Lin Yuan asked, stunned.

Tearlume tilted her head, then calmly rearranged the soul fruit seeds on the ground to show four dots in a row this time.

"…You upgraded the game?!"

She blinked once. Then took a bite of soul fruit.

Lin Yuan sighed and popped a fruit in his own mouth. Not because he was hungry—but because the **soul-devouring poison** from the ants still flared up when he wasn't paying attention. It had been nearly two months, and though his soul had grown tougher… the poison kept trying to make a comeback.

To counter it, Lin Yuan regularly used the **Soul Devouring Ants** to test his resistance, then recovered by eating soul fruits like snacks.

**Two months passed.**

Tearlume now played "Four Dots in a Row" with terrifying efficiency.

Lin Yuan? He was still losing.

Eventually, his last **Dark Holy Stone** was gone. With no more materials left to purify, they left the formation.

---

They returned to the main hall for lunch.

"Sect Leader," Lin Yuan said, biting into a rice bun, "what about that **Evergreen Holy Stone**?"

Yuexian was drinking soup and looking unusually tired. "Ah… I'm short on credit."

Lin Yuan blinked. "Wait. Are you saying… you used up all the credit I gave you?"

Sect Leader Yuexian paused, soup spoon halfway to her lips. "What credit?"

"The **1,000 high-grade spirit stones** I transferred to your account."

"…You did what?"

"Don't tell me you never checked."

"I've been *busy*! Cultivators don't sit around checking balance scrolls!"

Lin Yuan sighed. "Forget it. Can I still get another stone? I've got one more gourd that needs it."

Yuexian pointed her chopsticks at him. "Fine. Give me the broken spiritual bottle. I'll get the stone. One hour."

---

After the meal, Lin Yuan picked up **Xaiuluan** and gently opened her little jaws to inspect her growing snake teeth.

"Sharp," he muttered.

Meanwhile, Yuexian returned from her errand with a bag of snacks and immediately resumed eating.

"You eat so much," Lin Yuan said, "but you never gain weight."

Senior Sister Qingxiuan leaned over and whispered, "You can't say that to a woman."

The Sect Leader chuckled. "I'm poor, so I eat little. But if I had money, I'd drink **Cloud Qi** and eat **Dragon Meat**."

Everyone froze.

**Xiao Hu** slammed her hands on the table. "You're evil! Dragons are *people*!"

"They are demons," Yuexian countered.

"Still! You can't eat Sky Dragons!"

"…Fine."

Lin Yuan rubbed his forehead. "Let's… talk business."

---

Everyone leaned in.

"What's your plan?" Yuexian asked.

"…I don't have one," Lin Yuan admitted.

Qingxiuan rolled her eyes. "Open a dress shop."

Yuexian frowned. "That's hard work."

Xiao Hu beamed. "Let's sell fruit!"

Qingxiuan deadpanned, "You'll get robbed on the road."

"Okay, how about a **Talisman Shop**?" Senior Sister offered.

"Too common here," Yuexian muttered.

Then Lin Yuan had an idea. "Did you collect used **Moon and Sun Holy Stones**?"

Yuexian nodded. "Yes. I even sold a few Sun Holy Stones to get 100 for the **Sun-Moon Gathering Array**. But I need a lot of **ordinary spiritual sand** to fill the base. The seeds I bought—**sunflower and moonflower**—aren't matured yet."

"How much do you need?" Lin Yuan asked.

Yuexian raised her eyebrows. "A few hundred stones. Why?"

Lin Yuan took out a pouch and handed over **1,000 high-grade spirit stones**.

"For the formation. And whatever else you need."

The Sect Leader blinked. "…I'm going to cry."

"You can cry later," Lin Yuan said. "Right now, I need to go to the auction."

"Why?"

"To buy **divine metal**," he said simply. "My little armadillo is growing up. He deserves a good armor shell."

The outer sect's auction street buzzed with life. Banners fluttered. Spirit fruit stalls lined the road. Lin Yuan strolled slowly toward the auction house, Tearlume resting peacefully in his arms, her tiny fingers clinging to his sleeve. Her breathing was silent, her presence serene—like a spiritual artifact disguised as a baby.

But halfway there, he noticed a crowd forming.

A group of outer disciples—mostly young girls—were gathered beneath a moon willow tree, arguing loudly.

"I'm obviously the most beautiful in our generation!"

"Please. Your eyebrows aren't even symmetrical."

"Even Elders look twice at me—"

"Only because you wear perfume meant for fox spirits!"

Lin Yuan sighed.

He raised his voice.

"Hey! Hey! What are you all doing, shouting like carp in mating season?"

The crowd froze.

Then someone muttered, "It's that wasteful princess again…"

Lin Yuan stepped into the center, calmly patting Tearlume's head. "You're arguing about beauty as if it's a competition. Beauty is not just a face. It's how people feel around you. How you act. How you cultivate."

One girl scoffed. "Easy for you to say! You're rich, favored, and pampered. If the sect gave me your resources, I'd surpass you in three days!"

Lin Yuan tilted his head. "Oh? Then let me ask—do you even know where my money comes from?"

"From the Sect Leader!"

"From your mother!"

He nodded. "True. I'm the Sect Leader's personal disciple. But my mother gave me that money to survive. If I'd wasted it on opera shows and expensive robes, I'd have already dead . "

He gestured to the crowd. "You say you're poor. But how much have you saved from not shopping? Not gossiping? Not trying to outshine others in beauty contests?"

Silence.

Lin Yuan continued, "If no one supports you, then cultivate the body first. Work as a farmer, a guard, a miner. Strength earns coin. Coin earns cultivation."

A younger girl whispered, "Easy for you to say..."

Lin Yuan's expression softened. "You're right. Life is hard. But complaining doesn't make it easier. If talking fixed things, we'd all be immortals by now."

"Those people gating marriage they will cultivate faster than you and become prettier than you. They will have a child in 10 years and you will still stay here without any thing. Remember how many people pass you and get in inner sect, how many people get married and go outside. You are walking in two paths. You can never walk in two paths. "

He raised Tearlume slightly.

"This child… can't even eat normal food. Mortal food is poisons for her. High-grade spirit stones? She can't absorb them either. Her energy is too pure. If I leave her alone in a forest, every beast will try to eat her. Demonic cultivators want to kidnap her."

Gasps rippled through the girls.

Lin Yuan pressed on. "But she doesn't cry. She plays games. She eats soul fruit slowly. She's stronger than most of your"

He turned back to the crowd. "You all can absorb low-grade spirit stones. That's a blessing. Cultivate now. When you reach bottlenecks, you can purify your Qi with Heaven Swallowing Python venom. Use your hardship to grow sharper."

One girl frowned. "But we want to marry, too. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. Marry well, if that's your choice. But don't belittle cultivation in the process. Marriage isn't an excuse to slack off. If you truly want strength, it will come."

"Why don't you married yet. You think those boys don't deserve you. But they will get married and their wife can cultivate and surpass you in beauty. Remember you are in bottom of cultivation. Even those people who clean toilet in our sect is stronger than you. Some of them was people like you. "

He paused, voice low but piercing. "Or... stay lazy. Then one day your child will say, 'I'm poor, so I can't cultivate.' Then your grandchild will say, 'My grandmother was useless. If I had her chance, I'd be a hero.'"

Silence fell.

He smiled. "Your future is your inheritance. Build it."

Then he gently pushed forward through the crowd. "Now, please move. I need to buy Divine Metal for my armadillo."

Inside the auction house, Lin Yuan quickly found a seller with three palm-sized chunks of Skyweft Iron—perfect for his pet's armor evolution.

After bargaining for half an incense stick's time and trading a small spiritual bead, he purchased them all.

As he exited the auction house, a few of the girls from earlier stood quietly to the side, bowing slightly as he passed.

He didn't say anything.

But Tearlume blinked, raised her hand—and waved.

Would you like the armadillo evolution scene next? Or the return to sect and workshop pplann