Elder Wang and Elder Li of course have names, it's just that Zhang Ze has never used them.
Firstly, addressing a teacher by name is disrespectful, and secondly, Zhang Ze felt that their names didn't quite match their personas.
Tall and thin, always carrying an iron rod, nicknamed Yama Li among the disciples, Old Li has a very elegant and quiet name.
Li Guanqi.
Chubby and cheerful every day, like the sun, Elder Wang has a delicate and soft name.
Wang Buyu.
Close your eyes, and the image these names conjure is of refined gentlemen by the Wei River.
Open your eyes, and you see Master Chang Mei from Wulong Hall, and the second master Fatty.
"What kind of expression is that? I was quite handsome back in the day."
Seeing Zhang Ze's meaningful glance, Mr. Wang Buyu tapped Zhang Ze's head.
"Let's go, I'll take your cultivation technique to show the Pavilion Master, and grab two pounds of tea while I'm at it."
"Hey, Grandpa Wang, we know their names, what happened next?"
"Next? Next you should ask her."
Old Wang stepped aside at the door, and Zhang Ze saw Chen Qin peeking into the room.
"Ask me what?" Chen Qin looked at the old man and young man in confusion.
A few minutes later.
[Outer Sect's only hidden task: Spirit of Confusion, task completed.]
[Sub-line hidden task: Recollecting the Past, task completed.]
Looking at the task completion prompt in front of him, Zhang Ze's suspended heart finally settled.
What an unoriginal story.
That mysterious legendary lady, Mo Jingchun.
Is Chen Qin's mother.
That's it.
No wonder Old Wang and Old Li kept their lips sealed like they were welded shut.
Turns out the old classmate had become the sect founder's wife.
It's a sad story.
Oh well, I've got the task rewards; Zhang Ze no longer had any interest in probing further.
Inquiring about the Sword Spirit Senior's past might at most get him a beating.
Inquiring about the Sect Leader's romantic escapades would probably have him buried in the Sword Tomb by the next day.
Chen Qin was also a girl with a three-minute temper; she had long forgotten what she came looking for Zhang Ze for.
She chatted idly, talking about random things.
Like what she ate, what she drank, and so on.
Ever since meeting Zhang Ze, Chen Qin found him particularly interesting; he spoke pleasantly and always found something amusing.
Most importantly, when interacting with her, Zhang Ze never seemed constrained.
Zhang Ze listened to Chen Qin with one ear, while his hands played with an old wooden kite.
This was the reward from the two tasks.
The reward for the [Spirit of Confusion] task was the wooden kite's body.
The reward for [Recollecting the Past] was the wooden kite's chicken claw.
The wooden kite was intricately made, vividly lifelike, fully mechanical, though a bit worn out.
This was the first physical item Zhang Ze had received from the system.
Previously, it had either been direct cultivation transfers or invisible and intangible cultivation points.
The wooden kite was interesting; it wasn't a magical treasure, just an ordinary object but it could be thrown back into the system to exchange for points.
Moreover, the exchange amount was astonishingly high, at least from Zhang Ze's current perspective.
Zhang Ze roughly calculated that the points from the wooden kite would be enough to directly push him to the sixth layer of Qi Cultivation.
If combined with some small tasks and exploration rewards from Little Divine Peak, he could probably reach the seventh layer of Qi Cultivation by the end of the month.
And he'd still have over 8000 exchange points left.
Turned all into combat power, Zhang Ze's cultivation progress could only be described as a meteoric rise.
But while his hands played with the wooden kite, Zhang Ze had no intention of throwing it to the system.
As everyone knows, anyone who's played games understands.
The system shop is a big rip-off.
They sell you an item for ten thousand points, and if you just touch it and sell it back, it's only worth three thousand.
If the system really wanted to reward you, it wouldn't be so pointless.
This thing is definitely worth more than just those upgrade points.
Besides, this wooden kite was the ultimate reward of merging two hidden tasks of Elder Li and Recollecting the Past, alongside another unique hidden task.
It has to be some key item, right?
Maybe like a key to a secret realm?
Zhang Ze opened the exploration progress of the Outer Sect map.
The Outer Sect only had Little Divine Peak, the upper floors of the Library Pavilion, the female disciples' dormitory, and a place called Celestial Driver Valley left to explore.
The only places that could hide things were Little Divine Peak and Celestial Driver Valley.
But surely, the Seventh Sword Pavilion couldn't have an unexplored secret realm within their own territory?
And aren't secret realm keys usually like stone discs or jade pendants?
As he was pondering which hidden map the wooden kite might be the key to, he suddenly noticed Chen Qin had gone silent.
Chen Qin had at some point leaned close, staring at the wooden kite in Zhang Ze's hand.
"Do you recognize this?" Zhang Ze asked.
"I'm not sure, but mother seemed to have mentioned something... Can you let me take a look?"
Chen Qin took the wooden kite from Zhang Ze.
In her hands, the wooden kite seemed to come alive.
With mechanisms clicking and unfolding, the wooden kite's appearance changed, growing larger.
The mechanism at its belly and chest opened, two locks clicked shut.
A hidden array was assembled.
This was its true form.
As Chen Qin infused it with a bit of True Qi, rings of ripples appeared on the wooden kite, and the array lit up.
The wooden kite took flight.
"You know how to do this?" Zhang Ze was a bit surprised.
"Mother liked the Thousand Machines Technique very much; she taught me before," Chen Qin replied.
After circling the two of them twice, its True Qi exhausted, it gently landed on the table.
Zhang Ze just felt that comparing people could be infuriating.
In his hands, the wooden kite was a mere chicken that could flap its wings up and down; in Chen Qin's hands, it was a transforming auto-pilot contraption.
Thanks to Chen Qin's operation, the wooden kite's value increased.
Its exchange value with the system had doubled.
But Zhang Ze didn't plan to sell the wooden kite either.
Because he saw Chen Qin smile, a very happy, sweet smile.
She seemed like a different person.
It's not that Zhang Ze was being obsequious, but he suddenly remembered a title of Chen Qin's that hadn't been lit up.
[Demon Sword Drunken Moon]
Although it sounded impressive, it was clearly not a good title.
Neither falling into the Demon Path nor bearing a demon sword are light matters.
But the title aligned with Chen Qin's previous demeanor.
Mischievous, impatient, she'd hardly done justice to her actions over the last few months without going astray.
But what if change is possible?
Zhang Ze had already realized that events occur first, then tasks are triggered.
If he cultivated step-by-step and only unlocked maps in his spare time, he might never trigger the hidden task of the Sword Spirit until he entered the Inner Sect.
His system couldn't be measured with conventional logic.
Other systems might break the rules and crash directly, his seemed to encourage rebellion.
The true open-world immortal cultivation game.
For instance, now, Chen Qin's panel had a new title.
[One Sword, Thousand Mechanisms]
Can Chen Qin change, then what about the Sword Spirit, Old Wang, Old Li, and others?
After figuring out the key, Zhang Ze abandoned traditional play.
He planned to take a bigger risk.
"Junior Sister, let big brother take you to a fun place."
Zhang Ze smiled innocently.