**Chapter 11
The Saintess, the Scam, and the Soaring Cultivator**
The Azure Mist Sect was quiet—*too* quiet.
Which usually meant either:
A) a demonic beast had snuck past the formation barrier again,
B) Ling Xiao'er was cooking,
or
C) destiny was about to body-slam Alex Reed into a new life crisis.
As it happened, it was C. With just a dash of A.
A thunderous *BOOM* echoed across the sky. The clouds above the Outer Disciples' quarters split as a fiery streak crashed down into a nearby glade. Alex, who had just learned how to boil spirit rice without setting off a minor explosion, dropped his spoon and ran toward the smoke.
He found her there—half-buried under a collapsed tree, blood trailing down her lips, robes in tatters that still shimmered faintly with divine runes.
She was unlike anyone he'd ever seen in the sect. Her presence radiated purity like moonlight through sacred incense. A halo of fractured golden qi pulsed weakly from her chest.
"Holy crap," Alex whispered. "A saintess just fell out of the sky."
The System pinged in his mind:
> *WARNING: Unknown Cultivation Signature Detected.*
> *ALSO: She's totally out of your league. Do not attempt flirting.*
He ignored the System and dug her out, channeling the minimal healing techniques he'd learned from the sect's emergency handbook. (Mostly he'd memorized the pictures.) After stabilizing her qi with a spirit stone and yelling "Don't die!" three times, she gasped awake.
"You… saved me…" Her voice was like whispered poetry. "I am Li Yuying… Saintess of the Central Realm."
Alex's brain short-circuited. "Cool. I'm Alex. Reed. Of the… uh… Rice-Cooking Hall."
She blinked at him. "You have honest qi. But no nobility."
"Correct. Very correct. I'm also broke." He coughed. "That said, I *did* just save your holy behind from being impaled by a demonic pine tree. So. Could I… maybe… get some cultivation resources in return? You know, for first aid costs."
There was a pause. Even the wind held its breath.
Then, incredibly, the Saintess *smiled*. She reached into her sleeve and produced a glowing talisman pouch.
"Take it," she said, "and consider it the start of your fate."
The System's voice shrieked in his head:
> *WHAT?! Divine-tier resources detected! You don't even know how to use 80% of this stuff!*
> *I—I've been guiding you for chapters! And she just hands over a Saintess Starter Pack?!*
"Deal with it," Alex muttered. "She said fate."
That night, Alex retreated to the cave behind the waterfall, dumped the pouch's contents, and nearly had a qi-induced heart attack.
* Nine Cloud-Gathering Pills
* Two Void-Core Fruits
* One Phoenix Feather (singed)
* A cultivation manual titled **"Heaven-Walking Techniques: For Idiots With Potential"**
* A jade slip that read: *Don't die. Call me when you reach Core Formation. – Yuying*
He immediately began cultivating. For three days straight.
---
On the third morning, he stepped out of the cave and sneezed once—causing a passing boulder to explode.
Jin Mu, who had come to check if Alex had died again, stared at him. "Your aura just… *doubled.*"
"Tripled," Alex corrected. "I think I accidentally advanced to Foundation Establishment Stage 4."
The System sounded sullen.
> *Oh great. Now you're talented. You were supposed to be my underachieving long-term project. I had milestones, Alex. Charts.*
"You sound jealous."
> *I'm not jealous. I'm… recalibrating my expectations!*
Alex grinned. "Go ahead. Calibrate all the way to Nascent Soul, buddy."
As he walked back toward the sect, his robes rippling with newfound power and smugness, disciples stared in awe. Lotus Cloud Mistress, watching from her platform, raised one elegant brow.
"Hmph," she murmured. "Looks like the idiot learned to glow."
And somewhere far in the Central Realm, Saintess Yuying closed her eyes and whispered:
"Let's see how far you soar, little cultivator."
And soar he would. Because nothing in the cultivation world moved faster than Alex Reed on divine handouts… except maybe the System, furiously rewriting its jealousy subroutines.