Chapter 1: I really didn't peek at them bathing

"So, why did you peek at them bathing?"

"I don't know, I just woke up..."

"Zhou Qing of Little Spirit Peak, this is the Discipline Hall. I hope you can give an honest account."

"I really don't know. After drinking too much last night, I fell asleep on that rock. The moment I opened my eyes, I saw them taking off their clothes."

"Are you saying that all eighteen of them didn't see you?"

"I suppose so."

"It's just a hot spring the size of a palm, and you were lying right by the pool. Did all eighteen pairs of eyes ignore you?"

"That's just it. I actually feel like they didn't see me as a person at all—or to be precise, didn't see me as a man."

"Heh, do you think we believe that?"

"Let's not talk about belief for a moment. If it were you peeking, would you do it so blatantly while lying by the pool?"

"That... does seem a bit illogical. Perhaps you were just bold? Wanted to see clearly?"

"You all are looking down on me a bit now. At the very least, I, Zhou Qing, am a core disciple of Little Spirit Peak; there's no need to doubt my eyesight. Furthermore, I was clearly the one who shouted first, so why was I the one caught?"

"Then why wait until they had stripped to that extent before shouting?"

"I already said, I was sleeping at the time."

Outside the Discipline Hall, over a dozen women were crying in a mess. Some Discipline Hall personnel dressed in black were comforting them while conducting questioning.

"That hot spring is rarely visited on weekdays. Why did you suddenly decide to go there together?"

"Did not a single one of you notice being followed?"

"Who among you discovered it first?"

Whoosh!

Blade Qi streaked across the sky, quickly transforming into a man with a round face, small eyes, and a rather sturdy build.

The man looked anxious. After landing, he hurriedly swept a glance at these women and let out a cold snort directly.

"With your kind of looks, are you even worthy of my Junior Brother peeking at you?"

After saying this, he ignored the terrified female disciples and stormed directly into the Discipline Hall.

Not long after, he emerged from inside with a pair of dark circles under his eyes, nose bleeding, triumphantly leading Zhou Qing out.

Zhou Qing looked at his state and couldn't help but sigh.

"Third Shixiong, do you think this beating you took was worth it? I was almost done proving my innocence, but you had to go shouting about which bastard did the catching. How could the Hall Masters not be angry?" Zhou Qing said.

Yan Xiao was a bit embarrassed for a moment, lightly touching his nose, which immediately made him wince in pain.

His already small eyes quickly swelled until only a slit remained.

Yan Xiao said, "I just forgot in my moment of anxiety."

The Taiqingmen has thirteen peaks, and disciples are divided into four tiers: Outer Sect, Inner Sect, True Inheritance, and Core.

Only Core disciples are directly apprenticed under the Peak Masters. If they commit an offense, they are judged jointly by the three Hall Masters of the Discipline Hall.

"So, did you really not watch them bathe?" Yan Xiao struggled to open his eyes, scanning the surroundings. He didn't know where those women had gone by now.

Zhou Qing said, "I really didn't. If I were peeking, I couldn't possibly not call you. Besides, weren't we drinking there last night? That hot spring was dug out by you with your bare hands after you got drunk. Have you forgotten?"

Yan Xiao stared blankly at the black grime under his fingernails.

"I was wondering why my fingers hurt so much when I got up at noon. Now that you mention it, I seem to have some impression. No, wait, I remember you clearly left. How did you end up sleeping there?"

Yan Xiao asked suspiciously.

Zhou Qing said indignantly, "You know my alcohol tolerance is worse than yours. You drank me into that state and then just patted your butt and left. Otherwise, how could this have happened?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Xiao looked embarrassed and hurriedly apologized.

Zhou Qing feigned anger, but his mind stirred, and a panel visible only to him appeared.

【Name: Zhou Qing】

【Age: 19】

【Cultivation: Qi Condensation Seventh Layer】

【Technique: Taiqing Xuanqi Jue】

【Innate Skill: Lower Presence】

【Level: LV1 (36/100)】

【Skill Fragment: 1/3 (Cannot be obtained)】

Looking at the newly added skill fragment, Zhou Qing felt a surge of excitement.

Lower Presence—this was truly exciting.

Just think, staying in a crowd where everyone subconsciously ignores you, you standing to the side like a little transparent person, you could hear, and even see, scenes you could never imagine.

Just like this time, so many female disciples, yet not one of them glanced at him. It was even more effective than an Invisibility Talisman.

No, an Invisibility Talisman couldn't compare to having no presence.

"Currently, this innate skill 【Lower Presence】 is only LV1, targeting only Qi Condensation disciples. But the probability of being ignored is only 30%, with a 70% chance of being discovered. This time was just good luck that they all ignored me together."

Zhou Qing muttered to himself, then looked back at the panel.

He was still 64 ignore points away from reaching LV2. By then, there would be a certain probability of being ignored by Foundation Establishment cultivators.

And the method to obtain ignore points was also very simple: the more dangerous and tense the multi-person environment, the longer you stay without being noticed, the more points you get.

This was the best way to farm 'no presence', and also the method Zhou Qing had discovered after many experiments.

Take last night, for example—the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, what a stimulating scene.

Listening to the ignore points constantly +1, +1, how could he bear to interrupt it?

Seeing the last two pieces about to be taken off, he really had no choice but to slip away quietly, but he didn't expect to slip and fall.

Instantly, pairs of eyes all looked at him.

At that moment, he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Having no choice, he had to turn passive into active and shout "indecent assault" first.

He just didn't expect that in the midst of that tension, he would unexpectedly harvest a new skill fragment.

If one 【Lower Presence】 was already this heaven-defying, Zhou Qing was very much looking forward to what kind of innate skill would be synthesized if he gathered three.

When Zhou Qing and Yan Xiao returned to Little Spirit Peak, arms linked and laughing, they saw a middle-aged man from afar, standing with his hands behind his back, a look of anger on his face.

Their expressions changed instantly, and they hurriedly ran up and knelt down together.

"Master, we were wrong!"

Mo Xingjian, the Peak Master of Little Spirit Peak, let out a cold snort.

"Truly impressive. Dignified core disciples, actually going to peek at a group of girls bathing. Was the fair skin easy on the eyes?" Mo Xingjian said sarcastically.

Before Zhou Qing could speak, Yan Xiao hurriedly explained, "Master, this time you really misunderstood Junior Brother. The Discipline Hall has already investigated clearly; it was purely those women being blind and not noticing Junior Brother sleeping by the pool. The disciple actually thinks those women did it on purpose to lure the fourth one into making a mistake."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? They are all Outer Sect disciples, wanting to use this to climb up!" Yan Xiao slapped his thigh.

Mo Xingjian rolled his eyes directly and said indignantly, "Shut your mouth. The fact that the fourth one can do such a thing now has everything to do with you."

Upon hearing this, Yan Xiao also refused to accept it and stood up to defend himself, "Master, what does this have to do with me? Oh, you mean that incident? I admit I had a gambling component that time, dragging the fourth one along. I didn't expect those old women to suddenly bathe..."

Zhou Qing hurriedly pulled Yan Xiao and quickly spoke, "Master, the disciple really knows he was wrong, but I really didn't peek at them on purpose..."

Before Zhou Qing could finish explaining, Mo Xingjian waved his hand, "Forget it, forget it. Let's stop this topic here. If we keep discussing it, I think the third one is going to hit me."

Mo Xingjian looked at Yan Xiao's clenched fists and said faintly.

Yan Xiao looked unconvinced. Ever since that accidental incident, Master had always used it to tease him.

Those old women... no, they should be called Supreme Elders—they were definitely doing it on purpose.

How long has it been? He can still occasionally dream of their wrinkled, loose skin. It's almost become a psychological trauma.

"The disciple wouldn't dare!" Yan Xiao said through gritted teeth after kneeling down.

Mo Xingjian looked at Yan Xiao's stifled appearance, seemingly recalling something. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but lift slightly, but he quickly put on a cold expression and looked at Zhou Qing earnestly.

"Regardless, if you really saw something you shouldn't have, you must take responsibility. After all, women care more about their reputation. Don't let people gossip behind our backs, saying that our Little Spirit Peak disciples use their core status to do whatever they want. Understand?"

After hearing Master's words, Zhou Qing nodded, "Master's lesson is correct, the disciple understands."

Afterwards, Mo Xingjian looked Zhou Qing up and down, his voice becoming much kinder and gentler, "Are you hurt?"

Zhou Qing shook his head, knowing this hurdle was considered passed. After all, Master had always had a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

Seeing this, Mo Xingjian was a bit surprised, "With so many women, none of them scratched you? I heard that among those bathing, several had reached the Qi Condensation Ninth Layer."

Zhou Qing: "......"

No, why does Master look a bit disappointed?

Isn't it good that I came back in one piece?

Could it be that you also peeked at people bathing before, and your face got scratched up?

So you're feeling unbalanced?

Meeting Zhou Qing's suspicious gaze, Mo Xingjian couldn't help but cough dryly, then said, "Alright, alright, get up. Since you're back, just come with me to see your Sect Master Shibo."

After Mo Xingjian finished speaking, with a wave of his hand, two jade boxes carved from purple crystal jade appeared, with golden ribbons tied on them in auspicious knots.

The two stood up in confusion and took the jade boxes.

The carefree Yan Xiao quickly put the previous matter behind him, blinking his small eyes and asking suspiciously, "Master, are we giving a gift to Shibo?"

Zhou Qing curiously shook the box; it clattered, and he didn't know what was inside.

Mo Xingjian lightly stroked his beard and said, "Your Sect Master Shibo took in a disciple some time ago. Today is her formal debut. The eldest and the second girl are either in seclusion or out, so I can only take you two to see her, to avoid any clashes in the future."

Hearing this, the two finally understood.

"Boy or girl?"

"Seems to be a little girl."

"Looks like we have a Junior Sister. Then what is Master waiting for? Let's go!"

Zhou Qing also felt excited in his heart. Such an occasion was the perfect place to farm ignore points.

New book, seeking support!

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(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 2 =====