When Jiang Beiran first joined the Heart Returning Sect, he had already familiarized himself with its twenty-four halls. Among them, the Blue Heart Hall, which specialized in studying chess manuals, caught his greatest interest. The reason was simple - during his time in the mines, he had accumulated a considerable number of [Chess] skill points.
During those two months in the mines, the initial simplest options had all involved increasing basic attributes like strength or constitution. But by the second week, new rewards in the form of [Basic Skill Points] began appearing. These included artistic skills like zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as well as technical skills like alchemy, forging, gu refining, and tailoring.
Later, even more skills emerged such as formations, medicine, brewing, and others. Among all these skills, [Chess] was currently Jiang Beiran's highest attribute. Staying true to his initial aspirations, after passing the entrance test, Jiang Beiran followed the sect map given to every new disciple and came to the Blue Heart Hall to seek admission.
Just as joining the sect required testing, entering a hall naturally couldn't be avoided either. The Blue Heart Hall had two tests: one was a sparring match between disciples, the other a chess match. At the very beginning of the first sparring match, three options immediately appeared before Jiang Beiran's eyes: [Option 1: Easily defeat your opponent.
Reward: Eight Trigrams Spear (Mysterious Grade, Low Tier)] [Option 2: Hold back slightly. Reward: Gilded Plum Blossom Bell (Yellow Grade, High Tier)] [Option 3: Suffer a crushing defeat. Reward: Random Basic Skill Point +1] Having long been mentally prepared, Jiang Beiran directly chose option three.
After deliberately revealing numerous flaws in his defense, he was promptly knocked off the platform by his opponent's palm strike, all while being met with numerous disdainful laughs. However, during the chess match, the system surprisingly didn't present any options.
Through a series of previous observations and deductions, Jiang Beiran had discovered that this system only provided options at critical moments. The absence of options indicated that this particular decision was inconsequential and wouldn't have any significant impact on future events. 'Does it really not matter whether I win or lose at chess?'
Jiang Beiran couldn't help but feel puzzled. It wasn't until later, after entering the Blue Heart Hall thanks to his relatively excellent chess skills, that Jiang Beiran came to understand the so-called "chess manual research specialty" of the Blue Heart Hall was merely icing on the cake.
It was like when students studied - if you excelled in core subjects like language, math, and foreign languages while also being able to play an instrument, teachers would praise you for being multi-talented.
But if you were only good at playing music while your core subject grades were a complete mess, teachers would tell you to put aside those "unimportant things" and focus on improving your main grades first. In the Heart Returning Sect, these "core subjects" naturally referred to martial arts.
Precisely because of this, after entering the Blue Heart Hall, Jiang Beiran couldn't find a single master willing to take him as a disciple. This eventually led to him becoming a nominal disciple of the Blue Heart Hall. That's right - the kind of nominal disciple who only had their name registered without any other benefits.
Jiang Beiran, however, didn't particularly mind this. After all, the system had clearly indicated that taking a master would bring risks, so being a nominal disciple wasn't necessarily bad. He had already decided on his cultivation path - to continuously seek opportunities to trigger options and raise his basic attributes.
Although gaining just one point at a time seemed meager, through gradual accumulation, he would surely have his day to soar! Seeing Jiang Beiran's bitter smile, Lu Bogui, realizing he had said something wrong, quickly raised his wine cup: "Ah, I nearly forgot - happy birthday, Junior Brother."
"Thank you, Senior Brother."
Expressing his gratitude, Jiang Beiran picked up his cup and clinked it with Lu Bogui's. With food and drink consumed to satisfaction, at the canteen entrance Lu Bogui patted Jiang Beiran's shoulder and said, "Then I'll be returning to Master to report now."
"Understood. Safe travels, Senior Brother."
Jiang Beiran bowed respectfully. Waving his hand, Lu Bogui turned and left with an air of ease, while Jiang Beiran continued his afternoon "shopping" time. By evening, having triggered five more options, Jiang Beiran returned to the Blue Heart Hall, only to find a lovely female disciple standing at the door of his small dwelling.
At the same time, Liu Ziqin also noticed Jiang Beiran approaching and quickly stepped forward to greet him: "Liu Ziqin of the Water Mirror Hall pays her respects to Senior Brother Jiang."
This junior sister before him was exceptionally beautiful - her lovely eyes brimming with warmth, peach-blossom cheeks graced by a smile, and her breath carrying an orchid-like fragrance with every word, radiating endless gentleness and charm. 'Danger level extremely high!'
Based on Jiang Beiran's five years of experience encountering beautiful junior sisters, just brushing shoulders was enough for the system to pop up an option with rewards at Mysterious Grade or above. And this junior sister before him was undoubtedly the most beautiful he'd seen in those five years.
Though surprised that the system hadn't provided any options this time, Jiang Beiran immediately cupped his hands and said, "Junior Sister, I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else. My surname is Wang."
"Wang...?"
While Liu Ziqin stood there bewildered, Jiang Beiran had already cupped his hands again and walked right past her. But before he could get far, Liu Ziqin caught up, unfurling a scroll in her hands: "It can't be wrong! Isn't this you in the portrait?"
'Damn!
Who drew this? They actually captured one-tenth of my handsomeness - quite skilled indeed.' Looking at his own likeness in the scroll Liu Ziqin held, Jiang Beiran had no choice but to explain again: "The Blue Heart Hall has many disciples.
It's perfectly normal for some to look similar. But I truly am not surnamed Jiang. I wish Junior Sister success in finding that handsome senior brother in the portrait."
Just then, a male disciple approached and called out to Jiang Beiran: "Senior Brother Jiang, Hall Master Cheng sent me to invite you for a few games of chess." As he spoke, he noticed the utterly confused Liu Ziqin standing nearby. His eyes immediately widened, his mind instantly flooded with thoughts of "so beautiful."
Hearing the male disciple call out "Senior Brother Jiang," Liu Ziqin was momentarily stunned before immediately positioning herself in front of Jiang Beiran: "So you are Senior Brother Jiang after all!" Jiang Beiran smiled and shook his head: "No, Junior Sister misheard. He called me Senior Brother Wang."
"No way!"
Liu Ziqin turned to the male disciple and asked, "Is this Jiang Beiran, Senior Brother Jiang?" The male disciple, thrilled to be addressed by Liu Ziqin, immediately answered excitedly: "Yes! That's him - Jiang Beiran, Senior Brother Jiang, the genuine article."
Sighing internally about how this junior brother was still too young to understand how terrifying such beauty could be, Jiang Beiran put on a fresh smile and said to Liu Ziqin: "Alright, it's me. I was just joking with you earlier." Liu Ziqin covered her mouth and giggled: "I see.
Senior Brother Jiang is quite amusing."
'Huh?'
Jiang Beiran was momentarily stunned. He had expected Liu Ziqin to either turn and leave in anger or at least question him indignantly - either reaction would have given him an excuse to slip away.
But unexpectedly...
'She actually seems to genuinely find me humorous?' Realizing there was no escaping this situation, Jiang Beiran first addressed the male disciple: "Please inform Hall Master Cheng that I'll be there shortly."
"Understood."
The male disciple nodded, but showed no intention of leaving, his eyes continually stealing glances at Liu Ziqin. 'Sigh... hopeless case.' With this internal lament, Jiang Beiran turned back to Liu Ziqin: "Might I ask what brings Junior Sister specially to the Blue Heart Hall to seek me out?"
(End of Chapter)