He asked Nangong Yu whether she dared to undergo the Heart-Questioning Stone.
Nangong Yu did not even ask what that was. Instead, she changed the subject.
If she wasn’t feeling guilty, why would she change the subject? Elder Xuanqing sneered at the thought. “You won’t get away!”
With a sweep of his sleeve, he too vanished.
Meanwhile…
Xu Wanzhong brought Nangong Yu back to Hengxu Peak.
“Don’t worry,” he reassured her. “He can’t do anything to you.”
Nangong Yu nodded. “Senior Brother, when will Master be back?”
Thinking she was frightened and uneasy without her master around, Xu Wanzhong comforted her. “Although Master isn’t here, you still have your Eldest Senior Sister, Second Senior Brother, and me.”
He even smiled. “You’ve only just joined the sect, so you don’t know how highly regarded Hengxu Peak is.”
He lightly tapped her on the forehead. “Even disciples from the main peak wouldn’t dare provoke you, let alone the insignificant Taixuan Peak.”
That Elder Xuanqing was a confused fool. Xu Wanzhong thought to himself that he would have to teach him a lesson some other day.
Nangong Yu was indeed reassured. A little embarrassed, she said, “All right. Thank you, Senior Brother.”
“It’s nothing.” Xu Wanzhong gestured toward her cave dwelling. “You’ve just broken through, and your cultivation is still unstable. Get some proper rest first. There’s no need to hurry to class.”
Nangong Yu nodded. “I understand.”
Watching her turn and enter the cave dwelling, Xu Wanzhong set up two layers of formations outside before flying away.
He returned to his own cave dwelling and sat for a while before sending a message to Chen Zhi. “Come here.”
Before long, Chen Zhi arrived outside the cave. “Greetings, Grand Martial Uncle.”
“Come in.”
The cave’s door opened, and Chen Zhi walked inside.
“May I ask what instructions Grand Martial Uncle has for this disciple?” He walked up to the meditation cushion and bowed.
Xu Wanzhong was far from as gentle and approachable with him as he had been with Nangong Yu. His expression was calm and indifferent. “Chen Zhi.”
After calling his name, he fell silent. The cave dwelling became deathly quiet.
Sweat slowly spread across Chen Zhi’s back. He lowered his head even further. “This disciple is here.”
“Are you hiding something from me?” Xu Wanzhong asked blandly.
Although it was phrased as a question, Chen Zhi did not dare take it as one. With a thud, he dropped to his knees.
“Speak,” Xu Wanzhong ordered.
Sweat dripped from Chen Zhi’s forehead onto the ground in front of him.
After a long while, he forced the words out of his throat. “May I ask what matter Grand Martial Uncle is referring to?”
There were so many things Chen Zhi knew that Xu Wanzhong did not that, if he counted them carefully, he could hardly keep track of them all.
Chen Zhi was the grand-disciple of Xu Wanzhong’s senior sister. Out of consideration for her, Xu Wanzhong said, “Your junior grand-aunt.”
At those words, Chen Zhi’s heart sank with a thud into an abyss without bottom.
Trembling, he pressed his forehead to the floor and asked with difficulty, “Which matter is Grand Martial Uncle asking about?”
There were simply too many matters concerning Grand-Aunt Little Yu to count.
Chen Zhi did not dare guess, nor did he dare blurt everything out at once. His head buzzed, and a chill spread through his entire body. Yet he felt no regret.
So this day had finally come.
This moment had always been inevitable. It had simply arrived too soon.
When he broke through a few days ago, Chen Zhi’s thoughts had become clear. He had done nothing wrong. Whether it was interrogating Nangong Yu or concealing the abnormalities he had noticed in her, he had not made a mistake. If he were given another chance, he would still make the same choices.
Because of that, he soon managed to calm down. The cold sweat continued to drip, but that was only because of the pressure of Xu Wanzhong’s Nascent Soul cultivation.
“The person who cursed and ranted during the Heart-Questioning Trial—who was it?” Xu Wanzhong asked slowly.
So it was about this matter. Chen Zhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If it was only this, then at least it would be easier to explain than the destruction of Elder Fuyun’s and Elder Xuanqing’s peaks.
He immediately answered, “It was Grand-Aunt Little Yu.”
As expected.
When Xu Wanzhong heard his admission, the last trace of doubt in his heart disappeared.
When he had fought Elder Xuanqing on Disciple Peak, he had heard Nangong Yu arguing crisply below and felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Ah.
To think he had been so picky and self-important that he had even said in front of his junior sister, “I don’t want a junior sister like that.”
Xu Wanzhong found it somewhat amusing, but his face also felt a little hot.
When had he become so arrogant?
“Go back.” He looked at the figure kneeling before him and waved his hand.
As if granted a pardon, Chen Zhi rose to his feet. “Yes, Grand Martial Uncle.”
Just as he was about to leave, Xu Wanzhong suddenly remembered something. “Wait. When I asked about Little Yu just now, which matter did you think I meant?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Are there many?”
Chen Zhi’s heart, which had just returned to its proper place, once again dropped with a clang into an abyss without bottom.
“This disciple would never dare discuss matters concerning Grand-Aunt Little Yu.” He bowed and replied, “I ask Grand Martial Uncle Xu to forgive me.”
You’re both senior enough to be my grand-uncles. It really wouldn’t be appropriate for me, a mere grand-disciple, to betray one of you to the other, would it?!
A short while later, Chen Zhi emerged from the cave dwelling.
Looking up at the clear sky outside, he felt that the blazing sun was so dazzling that it nearly brought tears to his eyes.
He touched his storage ring, and Xu Wanzhong’s words echoed in his ears: “Take it and have some fun.”
Xu Wanzhong had given him a fan—a rare magical treasure with both offensive and defensive abilities that could also conceal golden needles.
“Just pretend you were never here today,” Xu Wanzhong had added as Chen Zhi accepted it with both hands.
After steadying himself, Chen Zhi mounted his sword and flew away.
Inside the cave dwelling, Xu Wanzhong took out his sect token and contacted his master.
“Wanzhong, what is it?” Elder Ling Heng’s voice soon came through the token.
Xu Wanzhong said, “It’s about my junior sister.”
“Little Yu? What happened to her?” Elder Ling Heng’s tone held a trace of concern.
Xu Wanzhong found that strange.
Ever since Master had taken Little Yu as a disciple, he had not met her even once. Where had this concern come from?
When a master accepted a disciple, it might be because of an instant affinity. But Xu Wanzhong had taken disciples himself, and he knew that when a disciple was first accepted, there was only that initial affinity—no real affection yet.
“Oh, something happened to Little Yu,” he said slowly.
Elder Ling Heng’s tone immediately turned stern. “What happened? Didn’t I tell you to take good care of her?”
“I never said it was something bad. Why are you so anxious?” Xu Wanzhong said. “She achieved sudden enlightenment and is now at the middle stage of Qi Refining. Congratulations, Master. You’ve taken on a promising disciple.”
There was a distinctly sarcastic edge to his words.
Elder Ling Heng snorted. “It was only sudden enlightenment.”
“What?” Xu Wanzhong was so exasperated that he nearly laughed. “Master, do you think sudden enlightenment is something that happens easily?”
He had cultivated for more than three hundred years and could be considered a prodigy. Had he ever achieved sudden enlightenment?
Honestly, what kind of thing was that for his master to say?
“Master, although my junior sister’s talent isn’t very good, she has an immortal opportunity!” Xu Wanzhong sighed. “Otherwise, with her spiritual roots, who knows how many years it would have taken her to reach the fourth level of Qi Refining?”
With spiritual roots like hers, even if she had possessed a single spiritual root, it would have taken at least eight or ten years just to draw qi into her body and advance step by step.
There were plenty of disciples in the outer sect in that situation. Many had poor talent but refused to give up their chance at immortality, stubbornly remaining in the outer sect. After eight or ten years, their cultivation might not have advanced at all.
And she had three spiritual roots, each one just as poor as the others.
“Is there anything else?” Elder Ling Heng asked.
Xu Wanzhong narrowed his eyes. “Master, Little Yu is hiding a secret. You’ve been keeping it from me.”
“Nonsense!” Elder Ling Heng said. “Don’t disturb her. Wait until I get back.”
With that, the communication was cut off.
Xu Wanzhong was consumed by curiosity. He knew that Nangong Yu was hiding a secret, and he also knew that Chen Zhi might know a little about it.
He somewhat regretted letting Chen Zhi leave just now. He should have pressed him a little and forced him to talk.
But it was too late for regrets now.
“Master?” The voice that suddenly sounded in her mind made Nangong Yu pause. Her eyes swept around the cave dwelling.
“I heard you achieved enlightenment?” Elder Ling Heng’s voice was warm. “Not bad. You’ve made your master proud.”
“Master, you already know?” Nangong Yu asked. “When are you coming back?”
“Soon.” Elder Ling Heng’s voice softened. “Once I’m back, I’ll teach you how to cultivate—and I’ll give you the dragon I promised you.”
Nangong Yu raised an eyebrow. “Master, what kind of scheme are you cooking up?”
She had never seen such a clingy NPC before.
He definitely had a bellyful of ulterior motives.
Meanwhile, Elder Ling Heng said, “…What kind of thing is that for a child to say?”
He glanced to the side and continued transmitting his voice. “Focus on your cultivation. Master will be back very soon. If anything happens, go to Senior Brother Xu. Be good, all right?”
After cutting off the communication, he turned to the person beside him. “She is my disciple. Don’t even think about it.”
The Sect Master smiled pleasantly. “Our battle hasn’t been decided yet.”
“Then let’s continue!” Elder Ling Heng declared, his expression haughty and brimming with fighting spirit.
Over the past half month, the Sect Master had already successfully broken through.
The bottleneck that had been as unyielding as ice had finally shattered. Not only had his cultivation advanced by a minor realm, but he had also caught sight of the path ahead.
His state of mind, stagnant for many years, was like an ice-covered lake struck through by a meteorite. Countless cracks now spread across the frozen surface; its complete collapse was only a matter of time.
“She and I are fated to meet.” The Sect Master looked at Elder Ling Heng, who stood guard nearby. “She ought to be my disciple.”
Elder Ling Heng immediately spat out a disdainful “Bah!” “When that child asked you before, you said you didn’t accept disciples. Have you no shame saying this now?”
“Don’t you also refuse to accept disciples?” the Sect Master retorted.
That only made Elder Ling Heng angrier. “Didn’t I set a condition? How was I supposed to know she could actually fulfill it?”
He was filled with indignation. “I gave you a fortuitous opportunity, and now you’re trying to steal my disciple? Do you have no shame?”
The Sect Master also knew he was in the wrong and said amiably, “I’ll compensate you. What do you want? You mentioned the Soul-Locking Chain in the sect treasury last time. I agreed to give it to you.”
“Bah.” Elder Ling Heng struck him with a palm. “Keep it if you don’t want to give it. Why did I want the Soul-Locking Chain in the first place? Wasn’t it for the sake of the sect?”
He could have chosen not to care about this sect.
But of course, his disciple was more important.
“Even if Little Yu becomes my disciple, she can still help you break through,” the Sect Master said matter-of-factly. “You can see her whenever you wish.”
The Sect Master could actually say something so shameless. Elder Ling Heng knew then that he was determined to take Nangong Yu for himself.
“We’ll settle this with our hands!” Elder Ling Heng declared.
The Sect Master wanted Nangong Yu for the same reason he did.
There was something special about this child. Though her innate talent was poor, she brought good fortune to those around her.
Even before becoming her master, he had been determined to snatch her away. Now that she was already his disciple, there was no chance he would ever let her go!
